KL Rahul’s Heartbreaking 199 Takes India to 391/4 on Day 3
India trail England by only 86 runs with six wickets in hand.
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Indian opener KL Rahul batted superbly but missed out on a well-deserved double century by one run as India ended the third day of the fifth match against England at 391 for 4 in Chennai on Sunday. The hosts now trail the visitors by only 86 runs with six wickets in hand.
Rahul, who hit a career-best 199, was on a record-breaking spree on his fourth Test hundred. However, a moment’s laziness saw him slash a loopy break from Adil Rashid straight into the hands of Jos Buttler. A devasted Rahul dragged himself back to the pavilion even as his captain Virat Kohli looked gutted.
After India lost their prime performers, skipper Virat Kohli (15) and Cheteshwar Pujara (16) cheaply, Rahul primarily led the Indian side that scored 331 runs in 88 overs on Sunday.
Resuming their innings at 60-0, India produced a solid batting performance as Rahul and Parthiv complemented each other. While Rahul took 96 balls to score his fifty, Parthiv achieved the feat in 84 deliveries as the duo shared a 152-run partnership for the opening wicket at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The opening partnership set the perfect platform and it was utilised perfectly with another 161-run stand for the fourth wicket with Karun Nair (71 batting). Both Parthiv and Karun also notched their individual bests in Test cricket.
It was spinner Moeen Ali who finally broke the stand when he had Parthiv caught by Jos Butler at cover after the wicket-keeper batsman tried to repeat a shot which had earned him a boundary earlier in the over.
After Parthiv's departure, Pujara joined Rahul and the duo scored 21 runs off 37 balls.
Earlier, Rahul made his intent clear in the morning when he blasted spinner Dawson for a couple of sixes at the long-off and long-on boundary.
His innings was the highest by an Indian opener against England at home since Budhi Kunderan's 192 at erstwhile Madras in 1964. Rahul faced 311 balls to hit 16 boundaries and three lovely sixes of off spinners Liam Dawson and Moeen Ali.
Just how much Rahul's presence meant to Kohli was evident when the Indian skipper raised his arms before the centurion when they were running the milestone run for the Mangalore man.