Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 104 after Mohammed Siraj’s four-wicket haul on day 3 (Saturday, Feb 17) put India in command of the third Test against England in Rajkot. Jaiswal, before retiring hurt, added 155 runs with Shubman Gill (65 not out) for the second wicket. India finished the day at 196/2 in second innings with night watchman Kuldeep Yadav on the crease alongside Gill. India now lead by 322 runs after bowling England out for 319 runs in the first innings in response to India’s 445.
Earlier, England started the day from their overnight score of 207/2 and were soon 260/5 with Kuldeep Yadav sending back centurion Ben Duckett (153) and Jonny Bairstow while Jasprit Bumrah took the wicket of Joe Root. Skipper Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes then added 39 runs to take England into lunch on day 3 at 290/5.
Ravindra Jadeja then sent back Stokes (41) soon after lunch and Mohammed Siraj took three wickets from the rest four as England conceded a lead of 126 runs in the first innings. Apart from Siraj, Kuldeep and Jadeja took two wickets each while Bumrah took one with Ravi Ashwin not taking any further part in the game due to a family medical emergency.
In the second innings, India skipper and first innings centurion Rohit Sharma departed early with only 30 runs on the board. Gill and Jaiswal then batted through rest of the day to give India an upper hand in the match.
The century was Jaiswal’s second in the series, having already scored a double ton in the second Test in Vizag which India won by 106 runs. Gill, who had also scored a hundred in the Vizag Test, looked good for more on day 3 in Rajkot before the stumps.
With two more days left in the Test, India are well and truly on the course of a win to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series which currently stands equal at 1-1.