Day 4 of the fifth Test in Chennai’s MA Chidambram Stadium saw a couple of new records on Monday, after 25-year-old Karun Nair became only the second Indian to smash a triple century. His score helped India post a mammoth 759/7 declared – their highest in Test cricket.
Nair, who was playing just his third Test, converted his maiden Test century into a magnificent 303 not out, which included 32 boundaries and four sixes. Virender Sehwag is the only other Indian player to have smashed a triple century.
Resuming Day 4 at 71, Nair added 232 runs to his overnight score. Following his 161-run partnership with KL Rahul (199) on Day 3, he made two more century stands on Monday – 181 runs for the sixth wicket with Ravichandran Ashwin (67) and 138 with Ravindra Jadeja (51) – to stretch India’s lead to 282 runs.
England had sent back Murali Vijay (29) in the morning but struggled to find crucial breakthroughs with Nair dominating the game. India’s lower-order, once again, played their part, with Ashwin and Jadeja putting up steady performances.
While the visitors’ bowled out star batsmen Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay cheaply, India’s long batting line-up came out on the top.
At the stumps, England were 12 for no loss, having played out 16 minutes after toiling in the field for 190.4 overs.
Brief scores:
England 477 & 12/0 trail India 759/7d (KL Rahul -199, Karun Nair - 303 not out, R Ashwin - 67, Ravindra Jadeja - 51; Stuart Broad 2/80, Liam Dawson 2/129) by 270 runs.
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