The England batters completely dominated against India on both the first and second day of the Manchester Test before skipper Ben Stokes piled even more misery for the visitors on Day 4. The likes of Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root and Ben Stokes all posted high scores as the hosts went on to post a humongous total of 669 on the board.
England's inning was given a fantastic start by the opening duo of Crawley (84) and Duckett (94), who formed a sensational partnership of 166 runs to provide their side with a fantastic start. Things didn't get better for India even after the openers were removed as next batters Pope and Root only gave more headache to the opposing bowlers on the second day.
Indian bowlers' display against England was quite poor
The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Anshul Kamboj were totally ineffective against the duo of Pope and Root, who formed a brilliant stand of 144 runs, taking the Three Lions' total close to the 350-run mark on the loss off just two wickets. A ray of hope did arise for the Men in Blue after Washington Sundar broke the partnership by dismissing Pope on 71 and then getting rid of Harry Brook for just three runs, restricting England to 349/4.
It looked like India were in with a chance to bundle out the hosts for less than 500 runs, however Root went on to form an exceptional 150-run partnership with Stokes, taking England comfortably into the lead. The former went on to complete his hundred soon after as the Three Lions took a lead of close to 150 runs.. Ravindra Jadfeja finally managed to get the much-needed breakthrough for India by dismissing Root for 150, however the damage was already well and truly done.
Stokes, who had also completed his fifty, was soon forced to retire hurt due to cramps and though the visitors managed to get the wickets of Jamie Smith and Chris Woakes for cheap before the end of the third day, things once again went downhill for them as the next day began.
After fully recovering from his cramps, Stokes took to the crease alongside Liam Dawson and absolutely smashed the Indian bowlers. Though the latter soon got dismissed for 26, the England captain went on going and went on to bring up a superb hundred. Stokes was assisted very well by Brydon Carse, who played an impactful cameo of 47 and formed a big 105-run stand, taking England's total over the 650-run mark. The all-rounder was eventually dismissed by Jadeja on 141 and the spinner also sent Carse back to the pavilion as the hosts got bundled out for 669 and took a massive 311-run lead over the visitors. It remains to be seen how the Indian batters will reply to this huge total set by the opposition as the fourth day progresses.