Stumps India 473 for 8 (Gill 110, Rohit 103, Padikkal 65, Sarfaraz 56, Bashir 4-170, Hartley 2-126) lead England 218 by 255 runs
With Stokes back to fulfill his allrounder status after a gap of 251 days, England’s attack plugged away manfully in placid conditions. But they were let down by a few scruffy moments in the field, which included Stokes dropping Sarfaraz in his follow through from a delivery that was subsequently called a no-ball.
England again struck straight after the interval, Bashir having Sarfaraz caught at slip attempting to cut the first ball back. Padikkal nonchalantly lofted the England offspinner for six over long-on to bring up his maiden fifty but he, too, could not go on as Bashir caught him on the crease with one that turned to hit the top of off stump. Dhruv Jurel holed out to give Bashir his fourth and Hartley then struck twice in the following over, Ravindra Jadeja pinned lbw before R Ashwin played around one that went on with the arm.
By that stage, the outline of the day was as clear as the hills in the background, India having cruised into the ascendency without breaking much of a sweat. The overnight pair both went on to record their second hundreds of the series – Rohit’s 12th overall, Gill with his fourth in Tests – as the home side tightened their grip on the match.
Rohit twice lofted Bashir back over his head in the third over of the morning, before Gill charged Anderson to hit him disdainfully for six, as they added 50 to the score within the first ten overs of play. Gill’s fifty came up from 64 balls as he closed the gap on his captain, who batted on unruffled after seeing an inside edge off Bashir evade Crawley. India’s second consecutive hundred partnership was raised when Rohit flat-batted Wood through extra cover and they moved past England’s total of 218 shortly thereafter, Gill swinging Bashir down the ground for another of his five sixes.
Rohit was the first to reach his century, flicking Hartley through the leg side with lunch approaching. Two balls later, Gill slog-swept Bashir for four to bring up three figures, too. Stokes had shot down talk in the build-up about whether he might help balance the attack in more seam-friendly conditions but he immediately produced a “who writes your scripts?” moment after bringing himself on in tandem with Anderson at the start of the afternoon session.
Anderson had his revenge on Gill with one that came back through the gate and Padikkal twice edged wide of the slips as England briefly rallied. The false shots were replaced by growing sense of authority, however, as a 97-run stand between Padikkal and Sarfaraz once again shut the door on Stokes and Co. Both batters must have contemplated the opportunity for a first Test hundred, only for Bashir to inspire another belated fightback. But England, having tumbled down a ravine with the bat, were already left facing a mountain to climb.
