A brilliant half-century from Parthiv Patel helped India defeat England by eight ar Mohali wickets to take a 2-0 lead in five-match series.
Chasing 103 runs, India started poorly as Murali Vijay returned to pavilion even without bothering the scorers. Parthiv Patel and Cheteshwar Pujara (25) then added 81 runs to set the platform for the victory. Parthiv was particularly impressive as he played an array of aggressive shots to help the hosts chase down the total comfortably. Playing his first game for India after eight years, the southpaw completed his half-century off only 39 balls and remained unbeaten on 67.
Earlier, resuming at their overnight score of 78/4, England lost night watchman Gareth Batty in the very first over of the day. Joe Root and Jos Buttler tried to score some quick runs but their partnership got ended when Buttler miscued Jayant Yadav to deep mid-wicket. Root and Haseeb Hameed then helped the visitors erase the 134-run deficit but any hopes of posting a good total looked bleak when Root was dismissed for 78 with the overall lead of only 18 runs. But Hameed (59*) played a gutsy innings to give his bowlers something to defend. He added 43 runs for the eighth wicket with Chris Woakes and 41 runs for the last wicket with James Anderson.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the day’s play:
Parthiv Patel gives a Sehwag like feeling . He hs the ability to take the game away in a blink .Opener-wicketkeeper a rare combo #INDvENG
— sanjay mishra (@mithilachase) November 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/toon4life85/status/803534990634078208
Parthiv Patel's fifth fifty, his first since puberty.#INDvENG
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) November 29, 2016
Before this, Parthiv Patel last played a Test 8 years back, been Ranji-ing his way across India since then. Dividends accruing now#INDvENG
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) November 29, 2016
Parthiv in a hurry to finish this and go home. He doesn't want to get grounded on reaching home after 6 PM again. #IndvEng
— cricBC (@cricBC) November 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/FakeRainaNephew/status/803518369412612096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Vijay and Rahane have really been shadows of their former selves in recent times.
— Gautam (@gautammahajan11) November 29, 2016
If the #IndvEng match gets over today the players can attend Yuvraj Singh’s wedding reception in the evening. Must be a big motivation.
— Kunal Dua (@duak) November 29, 2016
Haseeb Hameed first English batsman to register two Test 50s as a teenager!#IndvEng
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) November 29, 2016
Indian tours have a bit of a knack for uncovering batting brilliance – Cook, Root and now Hameed. #INDvENG
— Luke Flannigan (@VillageCCScorer) November 29, 2016
England may lose this series.Might even be 4-0.But one thing for sure is they have found a fantastic player in @HaseebHameed97 .. #IndvEng
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) November 29, 2016
An Indian fast bowler bouncing Englishmen out on a slowish fourth day Indian pitch. @MdShami11 legend. #INDvENG @cricbuzz
— Arinjay Ghosh (@ArinjayGhosh) November 29, 2016
https://twitter.com/AllTimeBakchod/status/803502470949285888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Really impressive stuff from Mohammed Shami. Fast, accurate, full of intent. He's had a top Test. #INDvENG
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 29, 2016
Few years ago we wouldn't have dared to dream that an Indian pacer would rattle a batsman with bouncer & bounce him out next ball. #INDvENG
— Jigar Mehta (@jigsactin) November 29, 2016