England v India: 4th Test – 4th Day’s Play
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 in the final Test of the four-match series at the Kennington Oval, London in England on Sunday, August 21, 2011.
The tourists started day-four’s play at 103 for the loss of 5 wickets with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 unbeaten on 57 and 5 respectively. They still had a first innings trail of 488 runs and were under immense pressure.
The pitch appeared to have some pace and bounce on the third day, but had slowed down significantly yesterday. This was a positive sign for the Indian batsmen, as they like slower wickets.
However, the day did not start in the most ideal fashion for the visitors, as they lost their skipper early in the day. Dhoni was struggling to cope up with the pressure built by the English bowlers and finally edged one ball from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/JM-Anderson-c1705 to the hands
of the wicketkeeper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Prior-c1984.
Dhoni got out after collecting 17 runs and the Indian team was in deep trouble at 137/6. However, Dravid found some support from the lower-order players, which gave some hope to the team.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/TT-Bresnan-c2711.
Mishra scored 43 runs in his spirited knock. His wicket brought the injured http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447 out in the middle. He seemed to struggle, but managed to hang around for quite some time.
Gambhir’s resistance finally came to an end, as he finally edged one short ball from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806. The left-handed player managed 10 runs off 62 balls in his outing.
There was a quick fire 25 from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RP-Singh-c87028 down the order, which guided the team to 300 for the first time in the series. However, Bresnan took 2 wickets in one over to end the Indian innings.
Although the tourists had their heads down after another dismal outing, one man walked out proud from the Oval. Dravid became the third Indian batsman to carry his bat, as the veteran scored an unbeaten 146. This was his third century of the series, but
the “Wall” did not have much support from his team-mates.
England’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964 imposed follow-on.
Dravid had to open the innings once again, but failed to make an impression this time around. He was dismissed for 13 runs, but had stayed out in the middle for a long period of time overall.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/VVS-Laxman-c2772, who scored 24, as India were 129/3 until close of play.
The tourists need 162 more runs to avoid an innings defeat whereas the English team needs 7 wickets to win the game on the final day.
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