<p>Rishabh Pant's flair and Cheteshwar Pujara's doggedness came to India's rescue after a top-order collapse as the side reached 154/4 at tea in reply to England's enormous first innings total of 578 on the third day of the opening Test here on Sunday.</p>.<p>Pujara (53) and Pant (54), heroes of India's remarkable Brisbane Test triumph in the recent tour of Australia, combined to keep India afloat with a partnership 81 runs in 14.3 overs so far.</p>.<p>The home team still trails England by 424 runs.</p>.<p>For England, off-spinner Dom Bess struck twice in the space of two overs to give the visitors the upper hand. First, he had Virat Kohli (4) edge a delivery, which turned and bounced, for Ollie Pope to take a sharp catch at forward short-leg.</p>.<p>In his next over, Ajinkya Rahane (1) stepped out to hit a full toss which was dipping, leaving Joe Root to pull off a stunning one-handed catch in the short cover region.</p>.<p>Pant, who walked in at the fall of Rahane's wicket, played in his inimitable style and took the attack to the English bowlers.</p>.<p>After a cautious beginning, he went after Jack Leach and tonked four sixes and reached his half-century in 40 balls. He also smacked four boundaries.</p>.<p>Pujara, on the other hand, was his usual watchful self, but played some lovely shots off the spinners, skipping down the track at times.</p>.<p>Earlier, pacer Jofra Archer had helped consolidate England's position, removing both openers as India went to lunch at 59 for 2 in reply to the hosts' mammoth score.</p>.<p>The home team lost opener Rohit Sharma (6) early, edging one to Jos Buttler after Archer got the ball to move a shade along with extra bounce.</p>.<p>India suffered a second jolt when the promising Shubman Gill (29) was brilliantly caught by veteran James Anderson at mid-on when he failed to keep the on-drive down.</p>.<p>Earlier, England posted a mammoth 578 in their first innings, losing the last two wickets in the morning session after adding 23 runs to their overnight score.</p>.<p>Bess (34) was the first to go, trapped leg before by Jasprit Bumrah with one that angled in sharply.</p>.<p>After that Jack Leach (14 not out) and No.11 James Anderson (1) prolonged the England innings by five more overs before the latter was bowled when he failed to connect a slog-sweep off Ravichandran Ashwin.</p>.<p>Ashwin, who bowled 55.1 overs, the most by him in an innings so far, finished with 3 for 146 for his efforts while Bumrah also ended up with three wickets for 84 runs from his 36 overs.</p>.<p>Ishant Sharma (2/52) and Shahbaz Nadeem (2/167) took two wickets each.</p>.<p>Root's marathon 218-run knock was the cornerstone of England's massive total on a docile pitch after the visitors opted to bat on winning the toss.</p>
<p>Rishabh Pant's flair and Cheteshwar Pujara's doggedness came to India's rescue after a top-order collapse as the side reached 154/4 at tea in reply to England's enormous first innings total of 578 on the third day of the opening Test here on Sunday.</p>.<p>Pujara (53) and Pant (54), heroes of India's remarkable Brisbane Test triumph in the recent tour of Australia, combined to keep India afloat with a partnership 81 runs in 14.3 overs so far.</p>.<p>The home team still trails England by 424 runs.</p>.<p>For England, off-spinner Dom Bess struck twice in the space of two overs to give the visitors the upper hand. First, he had Virat Kohli (4) edge a delivery, which turned and bounced, for Ollie Pope to take a sharp catch at forward short-leg.</p>.<p>In his next over, Ajinkya Rahane (1) stepped out to hit a full toss which was dipping, leaving Joe Root to pull off a stunning one-handed catch in the short cover region.</p>.<p>Pant, who walked in at the fall of Rahane's wicket, played in his inimitable style and took the attack to the English bowlers.</p>.<p>After a cautious beginning, he went after Jack Leach and tonked four sixes and reached his half-century in 40 balls. He also smacked four boundaries.</p>.<p>Pujara, on the other hand, was his usual watchful self, but played some lovely shots off the spinners, skipping down the track at times.</p>.<p>Earlier, pacer Jofra Archer had helped consolidate England's position, removing both openers as India went to lunch at 59 for 2 in reply to the hosts' mammoth score.</p>.<p>The home team lost opener Rohit Sharma (6) early, edging one to Jos Buttler after Archer got the ball to move a shade along with extra bounce.</p>.<p>India suffered a second jolt when the promising Shubman Gill (29) was brilliantly caught by veteran James Anderson at mid-on when he failed to keep the on-drive down.</p>.<p>Earlier, England posted a mammoth 578 in their first innings, losing the last two wickets in the morning session after adding 23 runs to their overnight score.</p>.<p>Bess (34) was the first to go, trapped leg before by Jasprit Bumrah with one that angled in sharply.</p>.<p>After that Jack Leach (14 not out) and No.11 James Anderson (1) prolonged the England innings by five more overs before the latter was bowled when he failed to connect a slog-sweep off Ravichandran Ashwin.</p>.<p>Ashwin, who bowled 55.1 overs, the most by him in an innings so far, finished with 3 for 146 for his efforts while Bumrah also ended up with three wickets for 84 runs from his 36 overs.</p>.<p>Ishant Sharma (2/52) and Shahbaz Nadeem (2/167) took two wickets each.</p>.<p>Root's marathon 218-run knock was the cornerstone of England's massive total on a docile pitch after the visitors opted to bat on winning the toss.</p>