Rahul hands India the advantage

It was an opportunity to score big and resilient K L Rahul did it in style by scoring 199 of 311 balls to guide India to a commanding 391 for the loss of four wickets at the end of day three in the fifth and final Test match against England here on Sunday.

Rahul added 152 for the first wicket with Parthiv Patel (71 off 112 balls) and in the company of Karun Nair (71* off 136 balls), the duo added 161 runs for the fourth wicket to give the hosts an upper hand.

At stumps, Murali Vijay (17*) was giving company to Karun Nair with India just 86 runs behind England in their first essay with six wickets in hand.

Rahul, whose senior namesake had been the most dependable Indian cricket could have ever seen, looked classy with dominating deft stoke play. He produced a display of flawless stroke-making as he punched, drove, reverse-swept and flicked with surgical precision. Rahul had everything right — his shot selection was perfect and the execution was immaculate. His head was still, feet were moving well, he got on top of the ball and hit it with sheer power every time.

In the process, the Karnataka batsman notched his fourth Test century, his first on home soil and his marathon innings came to a tame end when the he got a leading edge off Adil Rashid, on 199, to offer a simple catch to Jos Buttler, in what could have been a fantastic double hundred.

Rahul crouched in front of the wickets in disbelief and couldn’t believe the gaffe he had committed. Nair came along, patted his Karnataka team-mate as the opener stuttered back to the hut, in utter shock and kicked the boundary ropes in frustration as he walked over.

India started the day with positive intent and Parthiv Patel and Rahul built on the 60-run overnight opening stand. The intentions were clear by the third over of the day when Rahul stepped out to Liam Dawson and dispatched him straight down the ground for a six.

The Sunday crowd at the M A Chidambaram Stadium had a lot to cheer as Rahul crossed the half-century mark and soon India crossed the 100-run mark without any casualty. It was the first time the openers had put on a century partnership for the first wicket in 32 innings.

Parthiv, on the other hand, treated Stuart Broad and his fellow pacemen with disdain by driving through the cover region with the full face of the bat. The pint-sized wicket-keeper whipped Moeen Ali over the midwicket region for two boundaries and perished when he tried for a third, but the ball took a leading edge and Jos Buttler took a neat catch at covers to break the opening stand.

England then contolled the proceedings for a brief period after lunch when they sent back Cheteshwar Pujara (16) and skipper Virat Kohli (15) in quick succession. Pujara, who had looked good when he slammed Rashid for two fours in the vacant midwicket area, fell trying to steer Ben Stokes past gully. The ball, with a hint of reverse swing, was bowled slightly back of length and Pujara edged it to Alastair Cook at first slip.

Kohli perished for the first time for less than 40 in the series when he chose to drive Broad uppish only to find Keaton Jennings at extra cover for the catch.

Nair, who had scores of 4 and 13 in his previous two Test innings, started by driving Broad and pulling Adil Rashid for boundaries. He moved from strength to strength and did not shy away to leave the ball spinning and seaming away from the off-stump. Nair got to his half-century with a neat placement past mid-on for a boundary.