Bumrah takes blinder to remove Stokes, England recover to 200/6 at lunch

PTI, Jul 3, 2022, 5:13 PM IST

Image credit: AP / PTI

Birmingham: India pacer Shardul Thakur more than made up for dropping a regulation skier by dismissing Ben Stokes but Jonny Bairstow took the attack back to the opposition camp with an unbeaten 91 to steer England to 200 for six at lunch on day three of the rescheduled fifth Test.

Stokes (25) and England’s man of the moment Bairstow added 66 for the sixth wicket before Indian captain Jasprit Bumrah produced a moment of inspiration on the field, taking a diving screamer off Thakur’s bowling to dismiss his opposite number.

The dismissal couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for India after an attacking field seemed counter-productive as seven boundaries came between overs 33 and 36.

In fact, in a spell of 10 minutes, Stokes was dropped twice, first by Shardul, who couldn’t latch on to a skier when the English skipper had shimmied down the track only to mistime it.

The second chance was off the delivery before the dismissal when he flat-batted Shardul straight to Bumrah at mid-off and to everyone’s horror, he missed a regulation catch.

But instead of being discreet, Stokes did a repeat act only to find that the Indian skipper holding on to a much tougher chance.

For Bairstow (12×4, 2×6), who seemed to be struggling during the final hour on second day, did play and miss during the first 20 minutes.

Former India skipper Virat Kohli had something to say to Bairstow about his ‘play and miss’ game and the England batter wasn’t someone to take the stuff lying down.

Post that altercation, Bairstow started chancing his arms as he played a lot of lofted shots over mid-off and clipped a few towards mid-wicket boundary.

While Thakur got the prized scalp of Stokes, Bairstow did hand him some harsh punishment with a ramp shot followed by a square drive.

There was also a regal pick-up pull for maximum off Mohammed Siraj’s bowling.

There were two more sixes off Thakur’s bowling as the session belonged to England.

Brief scores:

India 1st innings: 416 all-out

England 1st innings: 200/6 in 45.3 overs (Jonny Bairstow 91 not out, Jasprit Bumrah 3/55).