Birmingham,jul 3
A historic marathon double ton from skipper Shubman Gill and his 144-run stand with Washington Sundar helped India dominate the second session on day two of the second Test against England at Birmingham, posting in excess of 550 runs at the end of the session.At Tea, India was 564/7, with Gill (265*) and Akash Deep (0*) unbeaten.India kickstarted the second session at 419/6, with Gill (168*) joined by Washington Sundar (1*).Washington and Gill moved cautiously for the first few overs, before Gill let his hands loose against Shoaib Bashir’s spin and Josh Tongue’s pace, fetching himself two fours and a six within a matter of eight deliveries. Gill’s boundary towards deep backwards square leg brought up 450 runs for India in 117.3 overs.Gill was stuck on 199 as Washington Sundar collected a four and six against Tongue in the 120th over.Finally, with a single off Tongue’s delivery on the first ball of the 122nd over, Gill reached his maiden double ton in Test cricket, bringing down an array of records and becoming only the third Indian after Sunil Gavaskar and Rahul Dravid to do so.After reaching the milestone, Gill got even more free-flowing, unleashing a brilliant reverse sweep and a beautiful glide against Bashir for two successive fours and smashing Harry Brook’s part-time medium pace for a hat-trick of boundaries, including two beautiful drives straight down the ground.With these, Gill overtook Sunil Gavaskar to register the highest-ever score by an Indian in England.A cut against Brydon Carse helped India reach the 500-run mark in 127.1 overs.Boundaries just kept flowing as Gill-Sundar reached the century stand for the seventh wicket in just 136 balls.Gill reached the 250-run mark with a four against Harry Brook, in 348 balls, with 29 fours and three sixes.Joe Root’s part-time spin delivered the magic for England, as he uprooted Washington’s stumps for 42 in 103 balls, with three fours and a six, ending an incredible 144-run partnership. India was 558/7 in 138.4 overs. Akash Deep and Gill made sure India did not lose another wicket.At the end of a largely India-dominant first session, India was 419/6, with Gill (168*) joined by Washington Sundar (1*).India started the first session at 310/5, with Gill (114*) and Jadeja (41*) unbeaten. On the very first ball of the inning, Gill collected an easy single to bring up a century stand in 143 balls.There was no changing this duo’s positive intent and searching for runs, as Jadeja got two boundaries against Chris Woakes in the 87th over.With a single off Woakes’ delivery, Jadeja completed his 23rd half-century in Test and seventh against England. It came in 80 balls, with six fours. He continued his attacking game, cutting and punching against skipper Ben Stokes’ pace.India reached the 350-run mark after a single in 94.5 overs.In the 96th over, it was Gill’s time to attack, slicing and driving Brydon Carse as the runs continued to leak, piling up England’s worries.
