Root century, Bumrah 5-fer set up riveting Day Five

The 1st Test between India and England at Trent Bridge is building up to a crescendo after a fascinating see-saw day four which saw plenty of high-class cricket from both sides. Joe Root led the charge for England with one of the finest centuries of his career to wipe out India’s deficit and give the hosts a substantial second innings lead. However, India fought back in the final session with Jasprit Bumrah picking up his 6th Test five-wicket haul to help bowl England out for 303, giving India a 207-run target on the final day to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

The Indian bowlers toiled hard in the morning session despite the lack of swing and were rewarded with two wickets in consecutive overs in the opening half-hour, with Rory Burns and Zak Crawley edging behind to Rishabh Pant. Crawley’s dismissal brought Joe Root to the crease with the hosts trailing by 49 runs, but the England captain was incredibly proactive and looked to put the pressure back on the Indian bowlers.

The Englishman raced to 30 off only 35 deliveries with some trademark punches through the covers and took England into the Lunch break with a 24-run lead after sharing a solid partnership with Dom Sibley.

Jasprit Bumrah returned to remove Sibley after Lunch, but Root continued to counter-attack and build England’s lead alongside Jonny Bairstow and Dan Lawrence with some effortless stroke-play.

After taking the key wicket of Root in the first innings, Shardul Thakur provided the two key breakthroughs of Dan Lawrence and Jos Buttler on either side of Tea to keep India in the contest. With wickets tumbling around him, Root batted with more caution as he approached three figures, but eventually reached his 21^st Test century with an elegant on-drive straight past the bowler.

Root looked faultless for most of his innings but Jasprit Bumrah eventually drew the mistake from the Englishman with the second new ball. Sam Curran continued to haunt India with his lower-order heroics but Bumrah ran through England’s tail for the 2nd time in the match with his searing pace and swing, finishing with nine wickets in the match.

With 207 to get, the Indian openers had a tricky one-hour session against the new ball with the lights on and clouds hanging low. KL Rahul continued his form from the 1st innings and looked positive at the crease until Stuart Broad produced a peach to remove the opener for 24.

Broad also had a couple of close calls against Cheteshwar Pujara, but India saw out the session without any more damage, finishing the day on 52 and needing 157 more runs to complete a series-defining victory.