Cricket
England was bowled out for 578 on the third day of the Chennai Test as they batted for over 190 overs to frustrate India's bowlers in Chepauk.
Updated : Feb 07, 2021, 10:37 AM IST | Edited by : Siddharth Vishwanathan
England batted for over 190 overs as they added 23 runs to their overnight score to be bowled out for 578 on the third day of the Chennai Test against India at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Sunday. Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah were the pick of the bowlers with three wickets apiece but it was a marathon effort by England, led by the brilliance of their skipper Joe Root who notched up his fifth double century. India delayed taking the third new ball as Dom Bess and Jack Leach survived and made good progress. However, when the new ball was taken, India immediately had success.
Jasprit Bumrah trapped Dom Bess LBW and the review was not taken. James Anderson and Jack Leach frustrated the Indians but Ravichandran Ashwin bowled an under-cutter to James Anderson who missed the sweep and was bowled for 1. England had batted for 190.1 overs, which is the most by a visiting team in India ever since South Africa batted for 190.4 overs during the 2004/05 Kanpur Test, a match which saw Andrew Hall hit 164. India had bowled a total of 20 no-balls in the innings, which is the most the hosts have bowled in a home Test ever since the 2009 Ahmedabad Test which saw Mahela Jayawardene hit 275 and help Sri Lanka to over 700.
Root the star
However, the foundation of England’s innings was Joe Root who became the first cricketer in the history of the sport to hit a double hundred in his 100th Test. Joe Root scored his fifth double century and he is now level with his former captain Alastair Cook who also has five double centuries to his name. However, Joe Root trails Wally Hammond in the number of double centuries, with Hammond scoring seven 200+ scores in his career. The England skipper thus became the first player in the history of Test cricket to score a double century in his 100th Test. The previous highest score was 184 by Inzamam-ul-Haq during the Bangalore Test against India in 2005 which Pakistan won. Joe Root also became the first cricketer from England to reach his double century with a six.
The Yorkshire right-hander joined Matthew Hayden, Dean Jones, Mike Gatting and Graham Fowler as the other overseas players to have scored a double ton at the MA Chidambaram stadium. Joe Root also became the highest individual scorer by an overseas player in Chennai as his 218 surpassed the previous highest of 210 by Dean Jones in the tied Test of 1986.