Manchester: Shubman Gill completed a gutsy hundred after Ben Stokes battled through pain to dismiss a well set K L Rahul, leaving India at 223 for four on day five of the fourth Test against England here on Sunday.
Resuming the day at 174 for two with a deficit of 137, India remained on course to draw the game courtesy a fighting effort from Gill, who brought up his fourth century of the series. The Indian captain fell at the stroke of lunch as the visitors still trail England by 88 runs.
Considering India’s backs against the wall and the series on the line, this could be Gill’s most defining century if India managed to save the match and keep the series alive. It would still be a tough ask with Rishabh Pant injured and not much batting to follow.
Ravindra Jadeja (0 batting) had just joined Washington Sundar (21 batting off 61) when lunch was taken after Gill’s dismissal. Expecting the ball to come back in, Gill felt for the one from Jofra Archer that shaped away, getting a faint outside edge.
With India behind in the game, Gill was understandably disappointed at the time of his dismissal.
The 188-run marathon stand between Gill and Rahul (90 off 230) was finally broken when the latter was trapped in front by Stokes with a ball that kept a tad low from length.
Soon after, Stokes got one jump to sharply from a similar length that foxed Rahul, leaving the Indian skipper in a lot of pain.
