1st Test: England reach 119/5 at Tea, take lead past 350

Chennai, Feb 8 (SocialNews.XYZ) England on Monday extended their lead to 360, having reached 119/5 in their second innings at Tea on Day Four of the first Test against India here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

At the end of the second session, Jos Buttler and Ollie Pope were batting on 14 and 18 respectively, having stitched together a 18-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Resuming the session at 1/1 after losing the wicket of opener Rory Burns on the first ball of the second innings, England added 118 runs to their total in the 25 overs bowled before the tea break.

Dominic Sibley (16), Daniel Lawrence (18), skipper Joe Root (40) and Ben Stokes (7) were the four England wickets to fall in the session.

While Ravichandran Ashwin scalped three wickets, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah both picked a wicket each and kept India in the game. Ishant became the third Indian fast bowler to take 300 wickets in Test cricket.

Earlier in the morning session, India got bundled out for 337, thus conceding a massive first innings lead of 241 runs. However, the visitors decided not to enforce the follow-on.

Resuming the day at 257/6, India added 80 runs to their overnight score before getting bowled out. Rishabh Pant was the leading run-scorer for the hosts, playing a 91-run knock for which he faced just 88 deliveries. Washington Sundar remained not out on 85 and made the second highest contribution towards India's total. Cheteshwar Pujara also scored valuable 73 runs.

England had scored 578 runs in their first innings, riding on a stupendous knock of 218 from Root. Sibley and Stokes had also contributed with 87 and 82 respectively.

Brief scores: England 578 and 119/5 at Tea on Day Four (Joe Root 40, Ollie Pope 18 batting; Ravichandran Ashwin 3/49) lead by 360 runs vs India 337 all out

Source: IANS