SOUTHAMPTON, Aug 31: England enjoyed upperhand in the post lunch session despite dogged defiance from Cheteshwar Pujara as India reached 181 for 5 at tea on the second day of the fourth Test.
Rishabh Pant (0) patiently left the deliveries outside the off-stump before Moeen Ali got one to straighten after pitching trapping him leg-before at stroke of tea.
Pujara however batted in his customary style reaching 70 off 151 balls with nine boundaries to his credit.
Pujara played in his usual style. He took time to settle down and waited patiently for the loose deliveries to dispatch it to boundary.
Skipper Virat Kohli (46), once again looked good for a big score before Sam Curran managed to draw him forward inducing a thickish outside edge to Alastair Cook in the slip cordon.
Kohli-Pujara added 92 runs for the third wicket after Shikhar Dhawan (23) and Lokesh Rahul (19) were dismissed cheaply by Stuart Broad (2/50).
Kohli�s 71-ball knock had six boundaries.
However vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (11) would consider himself unlucky as he was trapped leg before off a no-ball from Ben Stokes. The TV replays clearly showed that Stokes had overstepped but a howler from third umpire Joel Wilson became Rahane�s undoing.
Despite calling for a review, Wilson after repeated replays ruled it as a legal delivery.
Starting from overnight 19 for no loss, Dhawan and Rahul made a sedate start. The duo were watchful for any hint of lateral movement, similar to what the Indian pacers generated on the first morning of the match.
James Anderson (0-37) didn�t find much movement, while Stuart Broad (2-34) did hit on a troubling length to the left-handed Dhawan whenever he pitched the ball up.
Broad struck in the fourth over of the morning, trapping Rahul lbw in the eighth over of the innings. The batsman opted for DRS, but the decision stayed in England�s favour.
The pacer had another appeal against Dhawan turned down, this time for caught behind in the 14th over, and even on DRS, the batsman benefitted as the ball only clipped his thigh pad.
SCORECARD
England: 246
India: (Overnight 19 for no loss) at tea: Shikhar Dhawan c Buttler b Broad 23, KL Rahul lbw b Broad 19, Chesteshwar Pujara not out 70, Virat Kohli c Cook b Curran 46, Ajinkya Rahane lbw Stokes 11, Risabh Pant lbw b Ali 0; Extras: (B-6, LB-1, NB-3, W-2) 12. Total: (for 5 wickets in 56.3 overs) 181. Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-50, 3-142, 4-161, 5-181. Bowling: James Anderson 13-1-41-0, Stuart Broad 14-4-50-2, Sam Curran 12-3-29-1, Keaton Jennings 2-0-4-0, Adil Rashid 2-0-5-0, Moeen Ali 6.3-1-22-1, Ben Stokes 7-1-23-1. � PTI
