India to resume at overnight score of 391 for four against England

India will resume their first innings at the overnight score of 391 for 4 on the penultimate day of the Chennai Test today. Karun Nair on 71 and Murali Vijay on 17 are at the crease, with the hosts still trailing by 86 runs. Yesterday, Lokesh Rahul had made 199. This is the final Test of the 5-match series which India has already 

Rahul would have gladly taken a score of 199 at the start of the day but having actually come so close to the double hundred mark, his hurt was immense. It’s like missing gold by a whisker. You can have the satisfaction of having silver but can never experience the thrill of winning gold.

The larger picture though was looking bright for India. In the process of his epic innings (199, 452m, 311m, 16x4, 3x6), Rahul brought up his fourth Test hundred, which obliterated his previous best of 158 against West Indies in Kingston in August this year, helping hosts, overnight 60/0, finish the middle day of the fifth and final Test on 391 for four off 108 overs. India are still 86 runs adrift of England’s first innings total of 477 all out. Karun Nair (71 n.o., 136b, 6x4) and Murali Vijay (19 n.o.) were keeping vigil at the wicket with an unbroken stand of 19 runs for the fifth wicket.

They have done it together on countless occasions for Karnataka, and on Sunday, Rahul and Nair did it for India, heaping runs and misery on England. In excellent conditions for batting here at the MA



Chidambaram stadium, India first prospered on the back of a 152-run stand between Rahul and Parthiv Patel (71, 112b, 7x4) before they suffered three quick blows to allow England some foothold against the run of play. Parthiv, who opened in the absence of the injured regular opener Vijay, looked in complete control against England’s spin and pace alike as he moved to his 50 in 84 balls (5x4). Looking good for his maiden hundred, Parthiv chose the wrong ball to hit Moeen Ali to mid-wicket and top-edged it towards an obliging cover fielder.

Cheteshwar Pujara (16, 3x4), too, looked comfortable but chased one from Ben Stokes in the corridor of uncertainty and paid the price. The Sunday crowd immediately erupted in joy in what has become a familiar sight across the stadia in the country, signalling the arrival of Kohli (15). The in-form skipper, however, disappointed the crowd by falling to a rare low score. This was the first time Kohli had been dismissed for a sub-40 score in this series. 

Nair, who has had two poor outings in as many Tests, needed to stick around not just for the sake of the team but for himself as well. This was perhaps the last chance for the right-hander to make a statement of intent to keep himself on selectors’ radar and he did so pretty impressively, sharing a 161-run association with his Rahul that all but dashed England’s faint hopes of flying back home for Christmas with at least one win.