Leeds, June 23 (IANS) England need 350 runs on the final day to secure victory in the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at Headingley after reaching 21/0 in six overs at stumps on day four here on Monday. With all wickets in hand and rain forecast looming around, the match is set up for a blazing finish, as all four results are possible.

With six overs left to negotiate, England openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett had a quiet start to the chase, before the former struck back-to-back fours off Mohammed Siraj, over mid-wicket and backward point respectively.

By the time stumps were called, with Crawley and Duckett unbeaten on 12 and nine respectively, England got the target down to 350 runs and with some turn and grip available for Ravindra Jadeja to exploit, they will need to be at the top of their game on day five to get another famous win at the venue.

Previously, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant emerged as India’s standout batters with knocks of 137 and 118, respectively, as India were bowled out for 364 in 96 overs of the second innings. While Rahul was at his calm and composed best to top-score with 137, his ninth Test hundred laced with 18 boundaries, Pant was at his scintillating best after being subdued to smash 118 – his eighth century in the formal, aided by 15 boundaries and three sixes.

Before the 195-run stand between Rahul and Pant happened in Headingley, the duo had previously hit centuries while being in a partnership previously at The Oval in 2018. Pant also smashed many records – becoming the first wicketkeeper and fifth batter from India to score two hundreds in the same Test match in overseas conditions.

Pant is now just the second wicketkeeper-batter to score centuries in both innings of a Test after Andy Flower did so in 2001. Interestingly, instead of his trademark handspring celebration, he brought out the one that British footballer Dele Alli has made popular.

But after Pant and Rahul fell, India suffered yet another batting collapse, as they lost their last six wickets for just 31 runs. Once again, Josh Tongue had a major impact in removing India’s tail and being England’s standout bowler with 3-72 in 18 overs, with all three of his scalps coming in an over.

The final session began with KL Rahul and Karun Nair getting five quick boundaries collectively before Brydon Carse made the breakthrough as he managed to get some extra bounce and forced the former to chop onto his stumps. One brought two for England as Nair punched a full ball back to Chris Woakes for a simple return catch.

After that, Tongue took over to quicken the end of India’s innings – Shardul Thakur nicked behind to first slip, Mohammed Siraj was dismissed for a golden duck through a well-directed bouncer, and Jasprit Bumrah missed a fuller ball while going for a slog and could only see his middle stump being uprooted.

India’s innings ended when Prasidh Krishna holed out in the deep off Shoaib Bashir, as England went off in good spirits and then set the stage for a blockbuster finish on Tuesday.

Brief scores:

India 471 and 364 all out in 96 overs (KL Rahul 137, Rishabh Pant 118; Josh Tongue 3-72, Brydon Carse 3-80) lead England 465 and 21/0 in six overs (Zak Crawley 12 not out, Ben Duckett nine not out) by 350 runs

–IANS

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