England rally at Headingley after Rishabh Pant’s scintillating century
Pant cemented India’s dominance by turning his overnight 65 into a stunning 134.
England produced a stirring fightback after Rishabh Pant became India’s third centurion of the innings on the second morning of the first Rothesay Test at Headingley.
Tons from Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill put India in charge on 359 for three on day one after they were asked to bat first and Pant cemented their dominance by turning his overnight 65 into a stunning 134.
With India 430 for three, England were staring down the barrel but the tourists lost four for 24, which included overnight batters Gill and Pant, to go to lunch on 454 for seven in sultry conditions.
Captain Gill holed out off Shoaib Bashir for a masterful 147 and Ollie Pope took a stunning catch to end Karun Nair’s Test comeback after four balls, while Pant was lbw to Josh Tongue as India teetered.
Ben Stokes then took his fourth wicket of the innings when he found the outside edge of Shardul Thakur from the final ball before lunch, leaving India with work to do to get to an imposing 500.
It was a far cry from a wicketless first hour, with Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse again struggling to make an impact. The most memorable moment came with the last ball before drinks when Ben Duckett’s throw hit team-mate Harry Brook in the ribs attempting to run Gill out as he scampered for a single.
Bashir was targeted by Pant, who brought up a seventh Test ton in style with a one-handed six before removing his helmet and gloves and celebrating the achievement with a front somersault.
Gill sought to get to 150 in similarly buccaneering fashion but found only Tongue in the deep before Jamie Smith missed a stumping chance off Pant the ball after he had deposited Bashir into the stands.
Nair’s first Test innings for India since 2017 was a brief affair as a drive off Stokes was excellently pouched by Pope, diving full length to his left.
Tongue, who had been curiously overlooked up until 20 minutes before lunch, then jagged one back into Pant’s pads and got the lbw verdict, before Thakur nicked off to Stokes on the stroke of lunch.