England continued to maintain its dominance over the hosts as India lost six batsmen and still trail by 321 runs at the end of play on Day 3 of the ongoing Test in Chennai. R Ashwin along with Washington Sundar kept the Indian fight moving as the pair added 32 runs from 104 deliveries to help the hosts finish at 257/6, with 121 more required to save the follow-on.
After wrapping the England tail inside the first hour of play on Day 3, none Indian batsmen apart from Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant were able to resist the English attack. Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill fell in the first session of the day, with England speedster Jofra Archer sending both the batsmen back to the pavilion.
Dom Bess, who had a brilliant outing in Sri Lanka, enjoyed a similar show with the ball in his first day out in Chennai. The off-spinner rattled through the Indian middle-order with the likes of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane falling in his trap. Kohli (11) shortly departed after the mid-day interval, while his deputy Rahane (1) could only manage to last six balls.
However, some serious hitting by India's hero from the previous tour to Australia, Pant, saw the hosts maintain an attacking approach despite the middle-order collapse. The wicketkeeper-batsman along with Pujara added 119 runs for the fifth wicket.
run partnership comes up between @cheteshwar1 & @RishabhPant17
Live - https://t.co/VJF6Q62aTS #INDvENG @Paytm pic.twitter.com/wyfltlRHM6
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 7, 2021
However, Bess once again worked his magic and provided England a breakthrough in the most dramatical manner as Pujara's shot took a lucky deflection of the shoulders of the short-leg fielder and flew straight towards Rory Burns standing at the mid-wicket.
Meanwhile, Pant once again failed to breach the three-figure mark, falling short by nine runs this time. After his dismissal things slowed down a bit as both Ashwin and Sundar maintained a cautious approach, while keeping the scoreboard ticking.
Earlier in the day, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin picked up the remaining two wickets inside the first hour on Day 3 as England added another 23 runs to their overnight score of 555/8. The team riding on skipper Joe Root's fine double century posted a gigantic 578 runs on the board.
Dom Bess was the first man to be dismissed as he was trapped LBW by Bumrah on 34, while James Anderson was the final English batsman to get out. The pacer was cleaned up by Ashwin on 1.
Root emerged as the leading scorer for the tourists with a stellar 218, while opener Dom Sibley (87) and all-rounder Ben Stokes (82) also chipped in with useful contributions.
Meanwhile, Bumrah was the most successful among the Indian bowlers as he finished the innings on 3/84, while Ashwin also picked three wickets.
