ENG vs IND: Rohit Sharma's flawless catch at slip sends back Dawid Malan
Malan looked good for his 31 and the wicket came at a crucial time for India.
The fourth Test between England and India at The Oval is interestingly poised at the moment. The first day witnessed a whopping 13 wickets falling as the hosts skittled the Virat Kohli-led side for just 191 runs. The visitors too then bowled brilliantly to pick up three wickets before stumps. The first hour on the second day was going to be extremely crucial for both teams and India made early inroads.
The nightwatchman Craig Overton was nipped out early by Umesh Yadav in the second over of the day. However, England were dealt with the real blow when the set batsman Dawid Malan was back in the hut and the man to strike was none other than Umesh again.
The pacer ran in hard to deliver the third ball of the 25th over of the innings on a good length outside the off-stump. It was a scrambled seam delivery from Umesh Yadav and it swung in a little bit forcing Malan, the birthday boy, to get a feel of it. But the left-hander could only edge the ball to the slip cordon where Rohit Sharma completed a clean catch diving to his right.
The ball was certainly traveling on that occasion, however, Rohit was up to the task and took a brilliant catch as England were left struggling at 62/5 with the first 40 minutes in the morning.
Here’s the video:
Good chance for India to take a lead
With England already losing half of their side, India now have a great chance to eke out a small lead in the first innings despite scoring only 191 runs in the first innings. Joe Root’s wicket was key late on Day 1 and suddenly the hosts have started to look vulnerable. Having said that, India will have to bat well in the second innings and they cannot afford to repeat the mistakes this time around.
England’s lower-order tends to hang in and with Chris Woakes returning, India will have to be extremely careful. So far in the series, they have done well to keep the tailenders quite but Woakes is a very good batsman and can take the game away from the visitors quickly.
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