PUJARA HITS HALF-CENTURY, INDIA LEAD BY 257 RUNS

A solid half-century by Cheteshwar Pujara and his 50-run stand with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant put India in the driver’s seat at the end of Day three of the ongoing fifth and final Test against England at Edgbaston, with the score reading 125/3 at the end of the day’s play.

At the end of Day three, Pujara (50*) and Pant (30*) stood unbeaten. India maintained a healthy 257-run lead in the match. India started off things after Tea at 37/1, with Cheteshwar Pujara (17*) and Hanuma Vihari (10*).

England got an early breakthrough after tea as Vihari was dismissed for 11 by Stuart Broad after the batter edged the ball to Bairstow, who was present at the third slip. This brought Virat Kohli to the crease. He and Pujara took the innings forward and built a solid partnership. Kohli looked really good, hitting four really good boundaries. But the batter fell prey to a peach of a delivery by Ben Stokes for 20 after the ball hit his glove, got dropped by wicketkeeper Billings and went to the hands of Joe Root who was standing at the slip. With this, a solid 38-run stand between Kohli and Pujara was over.

This brought in-form Rishabh Pant to the crease. After scoring 146 in the first innings, he continued looking in good touch, hitting some good shots. Pujara also kept the scoreboard ticking with some good running between the wickets and a hit sent for four. Pujara fought his way to a brilliant half-century off 139 balls, his 33rd in the longest format of the game. A fifty-run partnership was also complete between Pujara-Pant. The duo helped India carry through the remainder of the day without any loss of wicket.

Earlier, Indian pacers once again excelled as they bowled out England to 284 and the pair of Cheteshwat Pujara and Hanuma Vihari ensured that India took a healthy first-innings lead of 169 with 9 wickets in hand.