Lunch Update: India 358 and 223 for 4 (Gill 103, Rahul 90) trail England by 88 runs
England moved closer to winning the series just before lunch on the fifth day in Manchester when Jofra Archer finally dismissed Shubman Gill after he battled for 87 overs.
When Gill came out to face a hat-trick ball in India’s second innings, his team was down by 311 runs and seemed likely to lose within four days. However, his strong and determined century—his fourth as India’s captain—kept both the match and the series alive, reducing the deficit to under 100 runs while gradually tiring out England’s bowlers.
On the fifth day, Gill got a lucky break when Ollie Pope dropped a tough catch at short cover. He also endured hits on his glove and helmet as Ben Stokes pushed through pain to bowl an eight-over spell from the James Anderson End. Stokes had not bowled on the fourth day due to cramping and grimaced after each delivery because of a shoulder issue.
Despite that, Stokes managed to give England their first breakthrough by trapping KL Rahul lbw, which ended their strong partnership of 188 runs with Gill.
Throughout his spell, Stokes took advantage of the unpredictable bounce; some balls skidded low while others, like one that hit Gill, unexpectedly jumped high.
Chris Woakes joined Archer with the new ball and occasionally beat the bat. Gill narrowly escaped an incredibly close call right after celebrating his century.
But shortly before lunch, he played away from his body against a back-of-a-length delivery from Archer and edged it through to Jamie Smith, putting England in a strong position.
