Eng out for 180; India need another 84 to win 1st Test
Birmingham: At stumps, India were 110/5 chasing a total of 194, require another 84 runs with 5 wickets remaining at the Edgbaston Cricket Ground here on Friday.
Virat Kohli (43) and Dinesh Karthik (18) were at the crease. Stuart Broad claimed 2/29.
India bowled out England for 180 in their second innings at tea on the third day, getting a target of 194 runs to win the opening Test.
Resuming the second session at 86/6, England could add another 74 runs, thanks to Sam Curran's sensational 63
off 65 deliveries, even as pacer Ishant Sharma (5/51) continued with his fine rhythm to trouble the lower batting order of the hosts.
England lost Jos Buttler (1) in the second ball of the session. The right-handed batsman couldn't handle a delivery from Ishant Sharma, who picked his fourth wicket. Buttler provided a thin top edge which went to the hands of wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik.
Afterwards, 20-year-old Curran and Adil Rashid (16) tried their best in a 48-run stand for the eighth wicket. Paceman Umesh Yadav rattled the stumps of Rashid, who survived 40 deliveries.
Curran stood out as he took the attack to the opposition bowlers by going after them. He was not even afraid of off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, whose venomous spin fell the top three English batsmen.
Curran did get some help from Stuart Broad, who scored 11 off 28 deliveries. The youngster continued his assault on the Indians. India saw a couple of edges not getting into the hands of the fielders.
Left-hander Broad could only edge an away moving ball from Ishant as it landed at the hands of Shikhar Dhawan at first slip.
Then, Curran's innings ended when his cut off a short and wide delivery from Umesh went into the hands of Karthik, brining an end to the second innings of England, who have a 13-run lead after posting 287.
Ishant ran through the middle order for a five-wicket haul but Sam Curran's fighting 63-run knock helped England set India a tricky target.
India had England on mat at one stage as they had reduced England to 87 for seven but 20-year-old all-rounder Curran took the centre stage by scoring 63 runs off 65 balls and delayed India's victory march.
Post lunch, Ishant did not allow Jos Buttler (1) to get settled, nicking him off on the second ball after resumption of play.
In doing so, he put on 48 runs with Adil Rashid (16) for the eighth wicket. It was the only passage of play on this third day wherein English batsmen looked comfortable at the crease as Indian bowlers searched desperately for a breakthrough.
Curran played with maturity that belied his young age. It did not help that Shikhar Dhawan dropped Rashid at slip off Yadav. Their partnership looked good for many more, but a heavy cloud stopped play for approximately 16 minutes as bad light forced the players in.
No rain came, and shortly on resumption, Yadav cleaned up Rashid's off-stump in the 45th over.
Sensing closure of the innings, Curran attacked the bowling, hitting sixes off both Sharma and Ashwin, as he reached his maiden Test half-century at a run-a-ball gallop.
He shielded both senior partners Stuart Broad (11) and James Anderson (0) ably, but Sharma eventually broke through as the English innings came to an end.
This was after Ashwin ran through the top order as India reduced England to 86 for six at lunch.
