Sarfaraz Khan yet again impressed with his batting exploits after hitting a half-century, effectively halting England's chances of a comeback in the ongoing fifth Test in Dharamsala, as he built a crucial partnership with newcomer Devdutt Padikkal after Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill's centuries. Sarfaraz Khan notched up his third fifty which came after the dismissals of Shubman and Rohit post-tea, capitalising on the conducive batting conditions to strengthen their position.
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Sarfaraz's ramp-shot frustrated Mark Wood
Sarfaraz had barely scored two runs when Ben Stokes missed a chance to catch him off a delivery that was eventually declared a no-ball. He gained confidence after hitting Tom Hartley for a couple of boundaries, but it was his consecutive fours against Mark Wood in the 76th over that decisively shifted the momentum India's way. Sarfaraz executed a bold drive and a clever ramp shot reminiscent of Sachin Tendulkar against Wood.
Particularly disturbed by the second shot, Wood attempted to intimidate Sarfaraz, which included a failed attempt to kick the ball onto the stumps while Sarfaraz was safely in his crease, followed by a brief exchange of words. However, Sarfaraz remained unfazed, continuing his aggressive play and reaching his fifty with two fours in quick succession.
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Sarfaraz's momentum didn't wane as he hit Wood for another boundary and a six soon after, seemingly driven by an earlier confrontation with Stokes and the latter's dismissive reaction to an edged boundary. This shifted the dynamics in favor of Sarfaraz shortly thereafter.
In the face of early setbacks with the dismissals of Rohit by Stokes and Shubman by James Anderson, leaving India at 279/3, Sarfaraz and Padikkal took charge. Their partnership not only averted potential trouble but also reinforced India's dominance in the match.
While Padikkal initially seemed more at ease, Sarfaraz took some time to find his rhythm. Starting from 8, Sarfaraz quickly caught up, reaching 56, with Padikkal not far behind on 44 by tea, propelling India to 373/3 and extending their lead over England to 158 runs. However, Shoaib Bashir hunted down Sarfaraz (56) in the 85th over and then followed it up with another scalp, this time Padikkal for 65.
Meanwhile, as of 114 overs India are 460/8 in reply to England's 218.
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