India v England – England tour of India (1st Test) – Match Update [Day 4] – Centurion Cook gives England hope of draw, Poms at 340/5 by stumps
A massive unbeaten century from skipper Alastair Cook put England back in the running and gave them a shot at drawing what had previously appeared to be a lost cause, with the team reaching 340 for 5 by stumps on day four of their ongoing Test match against
India at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad, today on November 18.
Displaying both his leadership qualities and his batting abilities, Cook led from the front and was aided by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Prior-c1984 in reviving the team’s performance after what had been a disastrous first innings.
With the track proving every bit as spin-friendly as England had feared, the tourists’ pacers struggled to make an impact on the slow and turning surface at the Sardar http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Huzefa-Mohammed-Patel-c63657 Stadium after India won the toss and chose to bat on the first day.
The hosts posted a solid first innings total of 521, after which they declared their innings on the second day of play. England’s first innings, however, featured a shocking batting order collapse, with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/R-Ashwin-c2228 (3/80) and
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/PP-Ojha-c2198 (5/45) finding easy pickings, and reducing the Poms all out to a dismal first innings total of 191. Skipper Cook (41) and wicketkeeper batsman Matt Prior (48) were the only ones who managed to stand up to the spin onslaught, but their contributions
were not enough to save the team.
Asked to follow on, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 took the responsibility to lead the team out of the tough spot, and his
as yet unbeaten 168 – the highest score by an England captain in India – pulled the team out of the quagmire.
His fellow opener Nick Compton contributed 37 after which pacer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/IR-Bell-c1597 contributed 22, and joined Cook
for a 39-run partnership – however, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Samit-Patel-c2426 (0) packing in the 77th over.
Prior (84*), however, emerged as an able partner for Cook, and the two batsmen set up an as-yet unbeaten 141-run partnership for the 6th wicket, which got England back in the game and enabled them to reach 340 for 5 by stumps, giving them a 10-run
lead, with 5 wickets remaining.
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