Jonny Bairstow dived to his left as KL Rahul was dismissed early on in India’s second innings.© Twitter
India were looking to chip away at England’s massive 345-run first innings lead on the third day of the third Test at Headingley in Leeds on Friday when opener KL Rahul’s dismissal just before Lunch pegged the visitors back. With what turned out to be the final ball of the day’s opening session, Rahul edged a delivery from Craig Overton to the slip cordon. Standing at second slip, Jonny Bairstow dived to his left and made no mistake as he incredibly held on to the catch with his left hand to send the Indian opener back to the pavilion.
Watch Bairstow’s incredible catch here:
WHAT A CATCH!!
Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/UakxjzUrcE
#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/WvIoJ2ct5j
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 27, 2021
It was a much-needed breakthrough for England after Rahul and fellow India opener Rohit Sharma had made a cautious start to the visitors’ second innings.
The opening duo had negotiated the tricky opening overs from James Anderson and Ollie Robinson, both of whom were threatening to cause damage with their movement early on.
Rahul’s dismissal meant India headed into the Lunch break with a deficit of 320 runs after England had posted 432 in their first innings.
Earlier, India had been bowled out for a paltry 78 in their first innings after they chose to bat first on the first day of the Test.
England, in response, posted a total of 432, with skipper Joe Root scoring his 23rd Test century in a masterful 121-run knock.
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Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan also chipped in with half-centuries for the hosts. Mohammed Shami was the pick of the Indian bowlers with figures of 4/95.
India lead the five-match series 1-0.
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