India vs England, 1st Test: James Anderson, spinners leave India in disarray at lunch

Chennai, February 9: James Anderson produced three of the best possible deliveries to dismiss Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant on day five of the ongoing first Test to leave India reeling on Tuesday (February 9) here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

At the lunch break on day five, India's score read 144/6 and the side is still 276 runs away from the target. For the hosts, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin are currently unbeaten on 45 and 2 respectively. The first session saw 105 runs being scored in 26 overs.

Resuming day five at 39/1, India did not get off to a good start as Jack Leach continued from where he left off on day four and he sent back Cheteshwar Pujara (15) in just the seventh over of the final day.

India skipper Kohli then joined Gill in the middle and the hopes of scrapping away with a draw relied heavily on these two batters. Gill took a special liking towards off-spinner Dominic Bess and this saw the right-handed batter bring up his third half-century in Test cricket.

England skipper Joe Root then introduced Anderson into the attack, and the veteran did not disappoint as he produced a jaffer to rattle the stumps of Gill (50). In the very same over, Anderson castled the stumps of Rahane (0), leaving India reeling at 92/4.

Rishabh Pant who played a knock of 91 in the first innings, failed to leave a mark in the second innings as he was dismissed by Anderson. Pant just managed to score 11 in the second innings. Soon after, Washington Sundar (0) was sent back to the pavilion by Dominic Bess, and this reduced India to 117/6. In the end, Kohli and Ashwin ensured that India did not lose more wickets before the lunch break and now the hosts would hope that these two batters continue to frustrate the visitors.

On day four, England was bowled out for 178 in the second innings and as a result, India was set a target of 420 to win. In the dying minutes on day four of the ongoing first, Jack Leach clean bowled Rohit Sharma and the hosts were given a major blow.