Ben Stokes’ England carried over their form from New Zealand’s series-winning run to reduce the tourists to 98-5, with James Anderson and Matthew Potts particularly superb either side of a two-hour rain break during during lunch. But then it turned into the Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja show as the duo put on 222 runs together – an Indian record for the sixth wicket in Tests against England – to pull their team back on the day. Wicketkeeper Pant smashed 19 fours and four sixes, taking 89 balls to reach his hundred before finally falling for 146 after cutting Joe Root’s off-spin to slip. But Jadeja remains unbeaten on 83 as India close on 338-7 with the chance of more runs this morning. However, England assistant coach Paul Collingwood insisted his team will not shy away from chasing runs if another set of fours requires. England chased fourth-innings totals of more than 250 on three occasions in their 3-0 win over New Zealand. “We’re not afraid of what we need to chase in the fourth innings,” Collingwood said. “The way we played in the three games against New Zealand showed that we are not afraid of what the opposition will get in the first innings. “We don’t play conventional Test cricket. We try to be as aggressive as possible. We want to be on the more aggressive side of the line. If we think we can get early wickets with a bit of moisture on the pitch, it can catch the game.” India are chasing their first Test series win in England since 2007, after last September’s finat Test was postponed due to Covid-19 cases among the tour staff. India currently lead 2-1.
