England had yet another great day on the field as they got the proceedings of the third Investec test match at Southampton under total control. At the end of day 3, England is right on top India as their bowlers did their job with perfection in getting the Indian batsmen out. At stumps India is on 323/8 still needing 47 more runs to avoid following on.
The English bowling attack led by James Anderson dished out a disciplined bowling performance to have India on the mat. Anderson and Broad bowled water-tight line and length to get the better of the Indian batsmen. Also the Indian almost all the Indian batsmen got their starts but did not go on to convert it into a big innings. Vijay (35), Pujara (24), Kohli (39), Rohit Sharma (22) and Rahane (54) all played well but went out just after getting set. Among all of them Rohit Sharma was the one who gifted it away while he tried to hit Moeen Ali over the top but just managing to find the fielder at mid-off. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has however played a fighting knock as he is still not out on 50. Ravindra Jadeja also got a start before getting out to James Anderson.
As it stands now, India still needs to get 47 runs to avoid batting immediately after completing the first innings. As long as Dhoni is there the Indians can hope of making England bat again. Again having said that, with only Pankaj Singh left in the dressing room it seems to be a hard job in hand for the Indian captain and with the excellent bowling from the English bowlers, it still remains a distant dream.
Tags: 3rd test Eng Vs Ind England india James Anderson Southampton test