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England vs India 2021: Shardul Thakur Scores Fifties In Both Innings At No.8, Becomes 6th Batsman To Do So
Indian bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur joined an elite list after scoring his second fifty in the fourth Test at the Oval against England. He became only the sixth batsman in Test history to score a half-century in both innings of the same Test coming in at No.8.
He became the third Indian to achieve the feat after Harbhajan Singh and Wriddhiman Saha. Harbhajan scored 69 & 115 against New Zealand back in the 2010-11 series at home. Saha also scored against the same opponents – 58* & 54 in the Kolkata Test held in the 2016-17 series.
Thakur also broke the record of the fastest fifty on English soil in Tests. He did so with a brilliant counter-attacking 57 in the first innings, in which he reached his fifty off just 31 balls. Ian Botham previously held the record having scored a 50 in 32 balls.
If Thakur’s first innings blitzkrieg saved India the blushes and pushed the total to 191, his second innings knock was equally pivotal. With India’s lead sitting on just 213 when Virat Kohli was dismissed, Thakur joined Rishabh Pant to build a 100-run partnership and tilt the game in India’s favor.
England make a steady start in their chase of 368
In their pursuit of the huge target set by India, Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed calmly played out the new ball. They put pressure on Indian spinner Ravindra Jadeja and milked a few runs from his bowling.
While the seamers kept things tight, Jadeja was ineffective and let the openers off the hook. The duo steadily erased a few runs off the total and put up their second fifty-run partnership of the series.
The pitch continues to be flat and easy to bat on and with the sun shining brightly, England certainly isn’t out of the game. The game is heading to a thrilling final day where either side could snatch the fourth Test.
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