6.28pm So, that's enough for one night. ANother enthralling day, and there are two more of them in store (and another 20 after that, yay!) From Miller, Ashish and Venkat, good night!
6.25pm Here's Ollie Pope on the state of play: "The India team batted in the sun for a day and a bit, then the clouds came in for us, so I knew it would be tough [for my hundred]. Respect the good balls and put away the bad balls. The conditions and I know this pitch, true bounce, quick outfields, can swing a bit. Play as late as I can, play square and score with the swing. That last series [in India] I wasn't good enough in the last four games, I'll look to draw a line under the last innings and reset from there. Whether it's 0 or a hundred. KL Rahul will be an important wicket for us. Don't want to put a number on a chase, the less the better but beat the infield it's four."
6.03pm Rain stops play! The umpires have had enough, and though Stokes is unimpressed, it's got heavier even as we speak. So that is stumps.
Another wonderful day of Test cricket... lit up by Harry Brook's 99 and Jasprit Bumrah's magnificent five-for. Between them they turned this match into a one-innings shootout, and by the close, India had turned their six-run advantage into a lead of 96, for the loss of two wickets. Carse produced a beauty to prise out the dangerous Jaiswal for 4, while Ben Stokes' golden arm accounted for Sai Sudharsan for the second time in the match. But with KL Rahul and Shubman Gill in situ at the close, it's a massive day four in prospect!
Matthew : "First time on ESPNcricinfo from Antarctica (on cruise). Please publish. India are basically 96 for 6, given the tail will do not much. These two need to really dig in for a big one." A touch pessimistic, but bonus points for your commitment to following the cricket (say hello to the penguins!). It's perhaps overstating things a touch, but the difference between India losing 7 for 41 and England going on the attack at the back end was certainly intriguing!
Kush: "So whose camp would you rather be at this time?" England's, just, if only because a couple of early wickets tomorrow morning will put massive pressure on India to scrape a defendable target. If this pair make hay on the resumption, however... all bets are off!
Suyog : "Match evenly balanced. India should Target to bat whole day tomorrow irrespective of result, target or circumstances. England will anyway go for it on last day with their bazball approach. So, having enough runs on the board is crucial."
We are now past 6pm... so it could be the close of play any minute if the rain does arrive
The umpires are starting to worry about the incoming weather...
Bashir to continue. Decent last over ... someone moves behind the bowler's arm at the last minute. Might have been wind, as it were...
END OF OVER:23 | 1 Run | IND: 87/2
- Shubman Gill4 (7b)
- KL Rahul46 (73b)
- Ben Stokes5-1-18-1
- Shoaib Bashir2-1-8-0
Prasad Chavali : "1.4 billion people and one Bumrah... he needs a sidekick..." When you put it like that... being one-in-a-million bowler is understating it really!
Root is very excited about the state of the ball. Lovely and shiny on one side. Good work, shiner-in-chief ...
END OF OVER:22 | (maiden) | IND: 86/2
- KL Rahul46 (73b)
- Shubman Gill4 (1b)
- Shoaib Bashir2-1-8-0
- Ben Stokes4-0-18-1
Saad Mubashar: "England automatically become a 1.5x better Test side with a fully fit Ben Stokes." So true... you forget how much he's been missed as an allrounder, arguably since 2020
The rain is falling... Root is full of energy at slip
Bashir rejoins the party. Slip and leg gully
END OF OVER:21 | 10 Runs 1 Wkt | IND: 86/2
- Shubman Gill4 (1b)
- KL Rahul46 (67b)
- Ben Stokes4-0-18-1
- Josh Tongue5-0-15-0
Hello skipper. This is a seriously fun Test!
B Sai Sudharsan c Crawley b Stokes 30 (48b 4x4 0x6) SR: 62.5
