Watch day five live on Sky Sports Cricket
Wednesday 22 August 2018 09:40, UK
Jos Buttler struck his maiden Test hundred as Ben Stokes struck a battling half-century but the rest of the England batsmen failed to hold off a resurgent India from clinching victory. Here's all you need to know from day four...
SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED | HIGHLIGHTS
India are one wicket away from beating England in the third Test at Trent Bridge after Jos Buttler's maiden Test ton and Adil Rashid delayed the tourists on day four in Nottingham, writes David Ruse.
Buttler (106) and Ben Stokes (62) combined for a battling fifth-wicket stand of 169 after England had slumped to 62-4 in their pursuit of an improbable 521 in the third Test, with Alastair Cook (17), Keaton Jennings (13), Joe Root (13) and Ollie Pope (16) had fallen cheaply.
India pushed for victory late in the evening but an entertaining fifty stand between Rashid and Stuart Broad (20) ensured it will take India five days to cut England's lead in the series to 2-1.
With England's backs against the wall and possibly his Test career on the line, Jos Buttler did what very few of the hosts' batsmen have done. He dug in, battled hard, made gritty - sometimes ugly - runs and seemingly batted within himself, taming his natural aggressive nature to occupy the crease and frustrate the Indian bowlers. In reality, it was not all that of tempered innings, with Buttler striking 21 fours during his stay en route to his maiden Test century. An emotional hundred for the Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman, it was one that showed his different abilities with the bat and will have quietened any questions over his place in this side.
For the first time ever in a Test match the top four batsmen in all four innings have made at least 10 runs.
Jos Buttler's century at Trent Bridge saw him leave ball 24 per cent of the time; none of England's last 30 centuries have seen more leaves.
Day four was only the fourth time that Ben Stokes has left or defended over 100 deliveries in a Test innings.
Will England have two new openers at the crease at the Ageas Bowl? Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings remain woefully out of nick at the top of the order for the hosts, with the pair dismissed in consecutive overs at the start of the day by Ishant Sharma.
Former England captain Cook has now been dismissed 11 times in Tests by the Indian seamer, who remains dominant against left-handed batsmen. Jennings has an average for 18.80 in this series and his opening partner just 16 from five innings.
Cook may well be absent in Southampton with the impending birth of his third child a matter of days away, but whether Jennings will be there either will be something the selectors are going to have to think long and hard about. The consistent failure to be able to get England off to a decent start leaves their middle-order exposed far too often.
JOS BUTTLER: "An amazing feeling to finally get there. A hundred in any form of red-ball cricket has been a long time coming. It's definitely a bit of a monkey off the back, and a fantastic feeling to get there.
"Hopefully it's like buses and a couple more [hundreds] can come. It's a huge moment for me. I don't think I can underestimate the feeling of scoring a Test hundred, knowing how to do it, facing that amount of deliveries - it's not something I do very often, with my last few years being predominantly white-ball cricket. My hundred at Old Trafford [against Australia] was the first time I faced more than 100 balls in an ODI."
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