Team India put themselves in the driver's seat early on with two quick breakthroughs in England's 557-run chase on Day 4 of the ongoing third Test at Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Sunday, February 18.
England assumed their second innings after India declared their innings with 430/4 in 92 overs on the board. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan launched an assault on England bowlers as the pair cruised India's batting after lunch.
Jaiswal and Sarfaraz accelerated India's innings and batted with sheer confidence as duo put on a unbeaten 172-run partnership for the fifth wicket to take India's first innings lead to 556 from 126.
Yashasvi Jaiswal notched up second consecutive double-century in the Test series as played a brilliant innings of 214 off 236 balls. His knock consisted of 14 fours and 12 sixes and batted with a strike rate of 90.67.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz Khan impressed on his Test debut as he registered his second consecutive fifty in the match as he scored an unbeaten 68 off 72 balls. Earlier, in the first innings, the 26-year-old scored 62 off 66 balls and became the joint-fastest player to score fifty on Test debut.
England lost two early wickets before tea
With a target of 557, England were off to a slow start to their innings as the opening pair of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett were struggling to find their rhythm.
Crawley and Duckett were ensuring no loss of wickets before lunch until the latter had a mix with his opening batting partner, resulting in get dismissed for 4 at 15/1.
Duckett was trying for a quick single after hitting Jasprit Bumrah's ball to the mid-wicket but Crawley asked him to go back. But it was too late as Mohammed Siraj threw the ball and Dhruv Jurel charged towards the stumps to bails off.
After Duckett's dismissal, Zak Crawley was joined by Ollie Pope at the crease. England lost another wicket in Crawley, trapped with LBW by Jasprit Bumrah for 11 at 18/2 at the stroke of tea.
At the end of second session, England posted a total of 18/1 in 8.2 overs, with Ollie Pope at 2. Jasprit Bumrah picked a wicket while conceding just 8 runs in 4.2 overs.
