Images from Day 3 of the first Test between India and England, at the M A Chidambaram stadium, in Chennai.
India face the prospect of having to follow-on after England off-spinner Dom Bess struck telling blows to reduce the hosts to 257 for 6 at stumps on Day 3 of the first Test against England, at the M A Chidambaram stadium, in Chennai, on Sunday.
India need another 122 runs to avoid the follow-on.
Washington Sundar (33), who played another good hand with the bat, and Ravichandran Ashwin (8) were unbeaten when stumps were drawn for the day.
The duo batted out more than 17 overs during their unbroken 32-run stand to prevent further damage.
After England posted a mammoth 578 in their first innings, speedster Jofra Archer removed both India openers before Bess dismissed captain Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane in successive overs.
Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara then led a strong fightback to rally the hosts to 154 for 4 at tea.
However, on resumption after the tea break Bess struck again with the wicket of Pujara, who was unlucky after a good innings of 73 from 143 balls.
He pulled a short delivery from the off-spinner but the ball hit the short leg fielder on his back and went straight to Rory Burns, who took the offering at square leg.
Pujara walked back disappointed after putting on 119 runs for the fifth wicket to help India bounce back after the loss of a few early wickets.
Pant, after looking well-set and good for a hundred, was Bess's fourth victim. He come down the track and tried to loft the ball down the ground but miscued it high on the off-side and was caught by Jack Leach.
He walked back after an entertaining innings of 91 from 88 balls, hitting five sixes and nine fours in the process.
With a couple of days' play still left, it will be interesting to see if England team management decides to give its bowlers some respite if it gets a chance to enforce the follow-on.
The day though belonged to Pant, the current toast of the Indian team. He smashed five towering sixes -- all in the arc between long-on and deep mid-wicket -- off left-arm spinner Jack Leach (17-2-94-0).
Session 1
England dealt India early blows after being dismissed for mammoth 578 in their first innings early on Day 3 of the first Test against India.
At lunch the home side was 59 for 2 after batting out 14 overs. Jofra Archer accounted for both the wickets, dismissing Rohit Sharma (6) and Shubman Gill (29).
England’s premier pacer tasted success early, getting the ball to bounce and move away as Rohit looked to defend. The batsman got the edge and was well-taken behind by Jos Buttler.
Archer then rocked India with the wicket of Gill, who looked well-set for a long innings. The young opener drove uppishly only for James Anderson to take a superb catch, diving full length to his left.
Gill will be disappointed at throwing away the good start, as he stroked his way to a quick 29 from 28 balls.
Earlier, England were all out for 578 in 190.1 overs in their first innings.
They lasted just 40 minutes on Day 3, adding 23 runs in 10.1 overs for the loss of their last two wickets.
Dom Bess (34, 105 balls, 6 fours) was the first to go, trapped leg before by Jasprit Bumrah with one that angled in sharply.
No. 10 Jack Leach (14 not out) and No.11 James Anderson (1) prolonged the England innings by five more overs before the latter was bowled when he failed to connect a slog-sweep off Ravichandran Ashwin.
For the home side, Bumrah and off-spinner Ashwin snared three wickets each after toiling for 36 and 55.1 overs respectively.
Senior pacer Ishant Sharma and debutant left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem claimed two wickets each.
Skipper Joe Root's marathon 218-run knock was the highlight of the English effort on a docile pitch after the visitors opted to bat on winning the toss.
Opener Dominic Sibey and Ben Stokes were the other notable contributors with knocks of 87 and 82 respectively.
Session 2
Rishabh Pant and Cheteshwar Pujara led India’s fightback after the top-order collapsed, in reply to England's first innings total of 578, guiding the team to 154 for 4 at tea.
Pujara (53) and Pant (54), who together fashioned India's remarkable Brisbane Test victory on the recent tour of Australia, steadied a rocking ship with a gutsy partnership 81 runs in 14.3 overs.
At the break, the home team trailed England by 424 runs.
Off-spinner Dom Bess struck twice in the space of two overs to give England the upper hand.
First, he had Virat Kohli (4) edge a delivery that turned and bounced, for Ollie Pope to take a sharp catch at forward short-leg.
In Bess’s next over, Ajinkya Rahane (1) stepped out to hit a full toss that was dipping and Joe Root pulled off a stunning one-handed catch in the short cover region.
Pant, who walked in at the fall of Rahane's wicket, played in his inimitable style and took the attack to the English bowlers.
After a cautious beginning, he went after Jack Leach and tonked four sixes before getting to 50 off 40 balls. He also smacked four boundaries.
Pujara, on the other hand, was his usual watchful self, but played some lovely shots off the spinners, skipping down the track at times.
