Leeds, June 23 (IANS) Outstanding centuries from KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have put India in command of the first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test as they ensured the lead went past 300 on Monday.
At tea, India’s lead read as 304 runs, with their second innings scorecard reading as 298/4 in 75 overs, as 145 runs came off the second session, as Rahul and Pant pounced on the old ball and England looking very short on ideas.
While Rahul was at his composed self to be unbeaten on 120, his ninth Test hundred laced with 15 boundaries, Pant was at his scintillating best to smash 118 – his eighth century in the format aided by 15 boundaries and three sixes.
Before the 195-run stand between Rahul and Pant happened in Headingley, the duo had previously hit centuries while being in a partnership previously at The Oval in 2018. Pant also smashed many records – becoming the first wicketkeeper and fifth batter from India to score two hundreds in the same Test match in overseas conditions.
Pant is now just the second wicketkeeper-batter to score centuries in both innings of a Test after Andy Flower did so in 2001. Interestingly, instead of his trademark handspring celebration, he brought out the one which British footballer Dele Alli has made popular. With Rahul and Karun Nair at the crease, India will be aiming to accelerate further and set England a steep target, especially with second new ball to be taken in third session.
The post-tea session began with Pant getting three quick boundaries off Josh Tongue, with Rahul getting his runs off Shoaib Bashir. Pant then deliberately edged past a vacant second slip off Tongue, before reaching his fifty with a brace off the pacer.
After flaying Tongue for another boundary, Pant struck Bashir for back-to-back sixes over the bowler’s head and long-on respectively. England called upon Brydon Carse to curb Pant’s scoring, but the keeper-batter pulled him for an authoritative four.
Rahul kept his calm to feast on poor balls, before drilling Bashir through cover for two runs to bring up his ninth Test century off 202 balls, and held up his bat and helmet to soak in the applause from the crowd.
Pant continued to strike boundaries, before taking 22 balls to get his century, as he didn’t give in to the outside off-stump bait by Bashir and Joe Root. Once he cut Bashir through deep point for a single, Pant brought out his more measured celebrations and soaked in the applause from the crowd, before hugging Rahul and thanking the Almighty.
Though Sunil Gavaskar, watching in the media centre balcony, asked for a handspring celebration, a satisfied looking Pant gestured with a ‘next time’. Pant then smashed Root for four, six and four in the very next over, before failing to get the timing right on a slog-sweep and holed out to long-on off Bashir. Rahul and Nair then picked a boundary each to push India’s lead past 300, before tea break arrived.
Brief Scores: India 471 and 298/4 in 75 overs (KL Rahul 120 not out, Rishabh Pant 118; Brydon Carse 2-62, Ben Stokes 1-40) lead England 465 in 100.4 overs (Ollie Pope 106; Jasprit Bumrah 5-83) by 304 runs
–IANS
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