Manchester: Rishabh Pant struck a courageous fifty on a broken foot while England captain Ben Stokes took his first five-wicket haul in eight years to restrict India to 358 in the afternoon session on day two of the fourth Test here on Thursday.
In response, England raced to 77 for no loss in 14 overs at the tea break with Ben Duckett (43 batting off 41) collecting six boundaries on the off-side against a wayward Indian pace attack.
Zak Crawley (33 batting off 44) too came up with some crisp hits in the unbeaten stand with Duckett.
Debutant Anshul Kamboj could not strike in his two short spells while the seasoned Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were also not at their best.
The highlight of the session was Pant (54 off 75) making a plucky half-century despite struggling to walk in the middle.
Pant sensationally smashed a slower ball from Jofra Archer for a six between midwicket and square-leg before driving Stokes from the crease for a boundary through cover for a memorable half-century, drawing a standing ovation from a packed stadium.
When Archer finally found Pant’s stumps with a peach, the significance of Pant’s courageous knock was not lost even on the opposition with Joe Root patting the Indian for his valiant effort.
Stokes had Kamboj caught behind to complete his five-wicket haul, while the innings ended with the dismissal of Jasprit Bumrah.
In the morning session, Pant remarkably came out to bat with a fractured foot while Shardul Thakur showed plenty of resolve to take India to 321 for six at lunch.
Resuming the day at 264 for four, India did well to cross the 300-run mark in overcast conditions that offered plenty of seam and swing to the England pacers especially Archer, who was effectively unplayable for majority of his opening spell.
Stokes got the odd ball to jump from length, creating further challenges for the Indian batters.
Considering the behaviour of the pitch, India would be content with a first innings score of 358.
Chris Woakes took the new ball immediately but it was in following over from Archer that England got the early breakthrough.
The in-form Ravindra Jadeja (20 off 40) could not do much off an Archer delivery that shaped away after landing on the leg-stump to take the outside edge, with Harry Brook holding on to a low catch at second slip.
With the ball doing all sorts of tricks, Shardul Thakur (41 off 88) looked to attack and dispatched Woakes off the backfoot in the cover region for a fine boundary.
Minutes later, Shardul creamed a full ball from Stokes through the cover a ball after getting a snorter from the England captain that almost kissed his glove.
Stokes managed to get rid of Indian bowling all-rounder eventually by luring him into the drive and getting him caught at gully by Duckett, who pouched the flying ball.
Much to the shock of everyone at the ground, Pant limped out to bat following Shardul’s fall and a standing ovation followed.
Despite the broken right foot, Pant made a courageous call to face the England pacers. He could barely complete his singles but the fact that he was in the centre said a lot about his grit and character.
An early lunch was taken when light rain returned to Old Trafford in fading light.
