The Prague Post - India suffer Pant setback in fourth Test against England

Earlier, spinner Liam Dawson marked his first Test in eight years with the key wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal after England captain Ben Stokes went against history by opting to bowl first after winning the toss.

No team winning the toss and bowling first has ever won a Test at Old Trafford.

India, 2-1 down after three Tests, must win in Manchester if they are to keep alive their hopes of winning the five-match series.

But the tourists will have to make history as they have never managed to win in nine previous Tests at Old Trafford.

India, got through the first session without losing a wicket only for three batsmen, including skipper Shubman Gill, to be dismissed before tea.

The recalled Sai Sudharsan, dropped on 20, twice hooked fast bowler Jofra Archer for four before Pant launched Brydon Carse for a superb straight six.

But the audacious Pant was hurt when trying to reverse sweep off a yorker-length delivery from paceman Chris Woakes -- a shot many batsmen would not even contemplate let alone attempt.

England appealed for lbw but a review revealed wicketkeeper Pant had got an inside edge before the ball deflected onto his right foot.

Pant, who had made 37 off 48 balls, took his boot off and, following on-field treatment, eventually limped into a buggy before being driven off the field, with India then 212-3.

Soon afterwards Sudharsan fell for a well-made 61 when a top-edged swivel pull off a shirt ball from lively paceman Stokes that cramped him for room flew straight to Carse at long leg.

Even though the floodlights were on, there were still several overs remaining when the umpires took the players off for bad light at 1721 GMT despite England bowling spin at both ends with Dawson and the part-time off-breaks of Joe Root.

Jaiswal and fellow opener KL Rahul defied difficult conditions and testing bowling from Woakes and Jofra Archer to take India to 78-0 at lunch

But Rahul had added just six more runs to his lunch score of 40 when, trying to force Woakes off the back foot, he edged to Zak Crawley at third slip, leaving India 94-1.

Jaiswal late-cut Carse for four to go to 49 before completing a 96-ball fifty.

Dawson, recalled after 21-year-old off-spinner Shoaib Bashir suffered a series-ending finger injury during England's thrilling 22-run win in the third Test at Lord's, did not bowl before lunch.

But the Hampshire veteran, 35, playing his first Test since 2017, needed just seven balls to strike on Wednesday when Jaiswal pushed forward defensively to a good-length delivery and edged to Harry Brook at first slip.

Gill, who had accused England of contravening "the spirit of cricket" with their time-wasting tactics during an ill-tempered match at Lord's, was greeted with a chorus of boos from spectators as he walked out to the middle.

- Gill dismissed -

Shortly after Sudharsan was dropped by wicketkeeper Jamie Smith off the bowling of Stokes, the England skipper removed Gill for 12 when his opposing skipper played no shot and was judged lbw after a vociferous appeal from the all-rounder.

Gill reviewed, but to no avail, with India now 140-3.

His early exit means he has scored just 34 runs in his past three innings after scoring three hundreds in the first two Tests.

India selected paceman Jasprit Bumrah again even though they had previously announced he would only play three Tests in the series.

The policy was aimed at protecting the world's top-ranked bowler following a back injury.

Bumrah missed the second Test in Birmingham, which India won, but returned for the dramatic match at Lord's.

The fifth and final Test takes place at the Oval, starting on July 31.

R.Rous--TPP