Former England captain Michael Vaughan reckons India should look to not concede a lead of more than 80-90 runs on the third day’s play of the fourth Test match against England. The visitors were bowled out for 358 in the first innings after Ben Stokes decided to bowl first.
England then raced to 225-2 in 46 overs, scoring at an impressive run rate of 4.89. England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley added 166 runs for the opening alliance off just 192 balls.
While Duckett scored 94 runs, Crawley got back in form to score a crucial knock of 88 runs. With England trailing by only 133 runs, Vaughan said the home team will take a lead but India should look to limit the damage.
Vaughan said the tourists didn’t bowl well after posting an above-par score of 358 on the board.
Michael Vaughan said on Cricbuzz, “I would expect England to get a lead, but if India bowl really well on Day 3 and take their chances, the lead shouldn’t be more than 80 or 90. If that’s the case, they should back themselves to score 300 in the second innings.
“And then they say to England, go and try and chase 200-210 on the last day or late on day four, where spin would play a part. That’s what India’s mindset has to be.”
Meanwhile, the conditions also helped England as the sun came out before the tea break. Furthermore, Vaughan reckons India didn’t have the rub of the green on their side as Rishabh Pant suffered a toe injury.
“For India to get 358, I think that was probably par for what they had to play, even if not a little bit more than par. The problem India had was that they didn’t bowl well enough, and the conditions did change. So, they had a bit of bad luck. They’ve had bad luck with the Rishabh injury, and they’ve had bad luck with the conditions,” he added.
Vaughan believes Shubman Gill’s team is not yet out of the contest and they can still bounce back in this Test.
“As the day went on, the sun started to shine, and England had to capitalize because I do think this pitch will deteriorate, and spin will play more of a part. I know England have got 133 (trail by), eight wickets, and they bat so deep, but India are not out of this Test match.”
India would need quick wickets on the third day’s play.
