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Kohli gem places India ahead

Last Updated 10 December 2016, 19:11 IST

Murali Vijay shed his brief indifferent run with his second century of the series while Virat Kohli continued his imperious touch to notch up his second ton in three Tests to power India to a position of strength in the fourth Test.

India lost overnight batsman Cheteshwar Pujara (47) to the second ball of the day when the batsman shouldered arms to a break-backer from Jake Ball and saw his off-stump rattled. The reaction from the crowd, however, gave little indication of England’s success.

A huge roar went up and then reached a crescendo as the man they had come to watch strode on to the field with the swagger that few batsmen of his generation carry. And as Kohli began accumulating runs, so did the crowd at the Wankhede.

Vijay (137, 282b, 10x4, 3x6) and Kohli (147 n.o., 241b, 17x4) denied any further to success to the hard-working English bowlers in the session to add 116 runs for the third wicket that helped India – overnight 146/1 -- end the middle day at 451 for seven in 142 overs on Saturday.

On a pitch where spinners are asking some serious questions to the batsmen, India’s 51-run lead, which is only going to swell further, may have already snuffed England’s spirits if not their chances of winning the match.

While Vijay was already well set, Kohli took little time to size up the conditions. In the form of his life, the Indian skipper got off with a back-foot cut off Ball and progressed in the same tempo before he slowed down after bringing up 1000 Test runs this year when he moved from 31 to 35 with a pulled four off Ben Stokes. Kohli is only the third Indian captain to have scored 1000 runs in a calendar year. When Kohli reached 41 with a single, he also completed 4000 Test runs in 52 matches.

Kohli cut, pulled, drove and swept his way to his 15th hundred even as Vijay brought up his eighth career hundred to become only the third Indian opener to score a hundred here after Gavaskar and Virender Sehwag.

The right-hander was patient without being too passive and his aggressive approach to spinners enabled India to dictate terms.

England had their moments on the day. After the lone success of Pujara in the first session, the visitors came back roaring in the second session with four wickets.

Even as their specialist spinners struggled to make use of the surface that aided appreciable turn, Joe Root emerged the unlikely hero with a couple of wickets in a short spell (4-1-14-2) he was brought for. The part-time off-spinner got rid of Parthiv Patel and R Ashwin in successive overs that left India reeling at 307 for six, still a good 93 runs in arrears of England’s first innings total.     
        
Before Root caused the flutter in the Indian camp with his twin strikes, Vijay had got out to a low full toss from Adil Rashid, who took a return catch, while Moeen Ali had cut short Karun Nair’s stay following a successful review from England after an LBW appeal. Ravindra Jadeja (25) prevented the visitors from assuming complete control by adding a brisk 57 runs but when the southpaw was dismissed to another adventurous shot, India weren’t completely out of danger at 364/7.  
 
Jayant Yadav denied England any further success with an unbeaten 30 while helping India overhaul England’s total during an unbroken 87-run stand with Kohli for the eighth wicket.

It didn’t help England’s cause that they failed to grab a few opportunities that came their way, Kohli and Jayant being the beneficiaries. England will also be lamenting their bowling combination for the match where they have fielded four pacers who have had little for them in the pitch.

Having played three spinners in the first three matches where the pitches weren’t exactly rank turners, England have had to rely heavily on Ali and Rashid who between them have bowled a staggering 89 of their total 142 overs. Rashid in fact bowled a 28-over spell spread over last two sessions, highlighting England’s limited resources in given circumstances.      
DH News Service

Run machine
1112            
Runs scored by Kohli this year in 11 Tests. He is only the third Indian captain after Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid to score more than 1000 runs in a year.

4106            
Kohli’s career Test runs. He is the 14th Indian batsman to cross 4000 Test runs. He has scored15 hundreds and 14 fifties.

552          
Kohli’s aggregate in this series. It is the second time he has crossed the 500-run mark, the first being 692 against Aussies in 2014-15.

2492            
Kohli’s tally this year in international cricket, including Tests, ODIs and T20s, is the highest by any batsman.

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(Published 10 December 2016, 19:11 IST)

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