After bundling out India for 364 in their second innings and setting up a target of 371, the England openers came out to bat for six overs during the fourth day of Headingley Test. The duo of Zak Crawley (12*) and Ben Duckett (9*) put up 21 runs on the board and ensured that the hosts did not lose any wickets. With the Three Lions requiring 350 runs on the final day, the match is evenly poised and both sides have a fair shot at taking a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
However, legendary England pacer Stuart Broad believes that India are the favourites to win the match heading into Day 5. He believes that the new ball will help India in picking up wickets and it will be crucial for the hosts to survive that period if they want to have any chance of winning the contest.
Broad feels that India will make good use of the new ball
"Getting through that new ball period is going to be key for England tomorrow. I think India have to be favourites on a day five pitch. They only need to create 10 opportunities, and they need to take their catches. They have to be favourites," Broad said on Sky Sports.
"But England will be taking themselves up in the dressing room and thinking they are favourites. Gill has a responsibility to use the bowlers well. They need to come in and whack the pitch as hard as they can," he added.
Meanwhile, coming to the match, at one stage the Men in Blue looked to be in complete control as they had taken a lead of almost 300 runs on the loss of just four wickets thanks to centuries from both KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant. However, the former's wicket on 137 triggered a batting collapse and saw the visitors lose six wickets for just 31 runs. They got bundled out for 364 runs as England came back into the match thanks to Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse, both of whom took three scalps each.
The same thing had happened with India in their first innings at Headingley where they ended up losing their last seven wickets for just 41 runs and got bundled out for 471. It will be interesting to see if the Men in Blue will be able to neutralize the Three Lions' 'Bazball' style of batting and stop them from achieving the target of 371 on the final day of the Test.