KL Rahul fell one run short of a well-deserved double century but laid a strong foundation for India’s strong reply as the hosts finished the third day on 391 for 4 in reply to England’s first innings total of 477.
Earlier, openers gave the hosts a solid start as they added 152 runs for the first wicket before Parthiv Patel was dismissed by Moeen Ali for a well-made 71. In-form batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli could not do much and returned to pavilion after scoring 16 and 15 respectively. However, Rahul held firm from one end and completed his fourth Test century to lead India’s strong reply. He was ably supported by Karun Nair, who made amends for his failures in the last two Tests by scoring his first Test fifty. Their huge partnership of 161 runs was broken when Adil Rashid dismissed Rahul for 199.
At the close of the day, Nair was batting on 71 while Murali Vijay, who could not open the innings due to an injury, was playing on 17.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the day’s play:
There will be a lot of talk on #KLRahul missing out on a double century. 199 is not a bad score to get!!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 18, 2016
Happiness of scoring 199 runs drowned by the sorrow of not scoring 1 run. Cricket….a game obsessed with milestones. Well played, KL Rahul
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 18, 2016
KL Rahul gets out on 199. He is nothing like Rahul Dravid. Rahul Dravid used to be patient in the 190s. Except when someone else was in 190s
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) December 18, 2016
Karun Nair has the height to become one of India's greatest batsmen.#littlemaster #IndvsEng
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) December 18, 2016
More than England, Karun Nair is playing against Rahane and Rohit. Stay in present, boss.#IndvsEng
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) December 18, 2016
Well played @klrahul11 ?Loved the way u learnt from ur previous mistakes& didn't repeat them? Double it up buddy? #INDvENG @BCCI
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) December 18, 2016
There are many good habits in cricket but few better than the habit of converting starts to big scores. #KLRahul will be a very fine player.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 18, 2016
Should dead rubber Tests be abandoned? Or should they be abandoned#IndvsEng
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) December 18, 2016
Bangalore boys stealing the thunder in Chennai #INDvENG #Rahul #KarunNair
— SUDHIR S B (@realmadrid_ssb) December 18, 2016
Karun Nair gets his half century another Indian gets opportunity and converts into milestone is recent trend in Indian team..
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) December 18, 2016
L Rahul 4th Test 100 – now 100s in Australia, Sri Lanka, West Indies and now India
Also has 100s in Zimbabwe (ODIs) and USA (T20Is)#IndvEng— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 18, 2016
C'mon Kumble, take out your SLR and take a pic of KLR#INDvENG
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) December 18, 2016
Hameed, from wata playa to wata spectator#dude #IndvsEng
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) December 18, 2016
That Awkward Moment When Pujara Departs And Crowd Cheers… For Virat Kohli. 😉#INDvENG #INDvsENG
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) December 18, 2016
100 Run Opening Partnership Comes Up For Ind After Long Time
Parthiv Patel-42*
Lokesh Rahul-58*#IND-101//0 Trail By 375#INDvENG #INDvsENG— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) December 18, 2016
157 Overs busy in Wicket Keeping..
42 Overs busy in Batting
199 Overs Parthiv Patel Put his effort now its time for rest!
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) December 18, 2016
https://twitter.com/hankypanty/status/810359642991841280
Partiv Patel has cleared his Physical n Mental test with flying colors..superb. @imVkohli @parthiv9 @parthiv9
— Samip Rajguru (@samiprajguru) December 18, 2016