India vs England: 4th Test, Day 3 - As it happened...

Zee Media Bureau New Delhi: India started their second innings with a deficit of 215 runs. England consolidated their position by taking a handy 85-run lead as they reached 237 for six before heavy rain washed away nearly two sessions of play on the second day of the fourth cricket Test against India, here Friday. Resuming at overnight 113 for three, England lost three wickets in the pre-lunch session as India removed removed Ian Bell (58), Chris Jordan (13) and Moeen Ali (13). SCORECARD» | COMMENTARY» | AS IT HAPPENED» A 67-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Joe Root (48) and Jos Buttler (22) dashed India`s hopes of anymore breakthroughs. Only nine overs were possible after lunch which meant that only 36 overs were bowled on day two as wet outfield in a small area around square prevented further action. The rain did stop around the scheduled tea-time but the outfield had been rendered completely wet and big puddles formed at various spots on the square as well as the boundary ropes which meant that the ground-staff were unable to get play started again. ALSO READ: Match report» Srinivasan played in ECB hands in Anderson-Jadeja spat: Aditya Verma» Varun Aaron vows to bowl quick after impressive return» ============================================================== England win the match by an innings and 54 runs. India 152 & 2nd Innings, England (367/9) Over 43 || Score 161 all out A perfect snorter for a tail-ender to get rid of Varun Aaron. Then followed it up with a straight delivery to clean up Pankaj Singh. Varun Aaron c Jos Buttler b Chris Jordan 9 (13b) Pankaj Singh b Chris Jordan 0 (1b) =================================================== Over 39|| Score 133/8 Moeen Ali is everywhere. This time, he contributed with a throw which resulted in the run-out of Bhuvneshwar Kumar. India still need another 82 runs to make England bat, with two wickets in hand. Overs left in the day: 22. A result can be expected today itself, no points for guessing the winners though. Bhuvneshwar Kumar run out 10 (15b) =================================================== Over 34|| Score 107/7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni tried to clipped the ball over the midwicket. But Gary Ballance took a great diving to his right to send back Indian skipper. And Moeen Ali has four wickets for 21 runs from nine overs. MS Dhoni c Gary Ballance b Moeen Ali 27 (22b) =================================================== Over 32|| Score 100/6 With some quick runs, India reached 100 runs. Still trail England by another 115 runs. MS Dhoni is on 22 runs from 17 balls with four fours. His partner R Ashwin is on 12 and showing good signs, at least, to last the day. With 29 overs still left in today's play, and two more days of action, it's more of a formality for England to allow India bat before winning the match. For Moeen Ali, this series is proving a windfall since making his England debut against Sri Lanka barely two months ago. He has now 20 Test wickets. =================================================== Over 26|| Score 66/6 Another collapse for India! Virat Kohli edged James Anderson to slip and Ian Bell took a cool take. India in a deep hole. It seems Kohli's English nightmare is yet to over. Then, Sir Ravindra Jadeja thought it's the best time to slog, or was he pushing, reaching to the ball. And Moeen Ali, the part-time spinner, has the last laugh. Virat Kohli c Ian Bell b James Anderson 7 (11b) Ravindra Jadeja c Chris Jordan b Moeen Ali 4 (5b) India trail by 147 runs with 4 wickets in hand. =================================================== Over 24|| Score 61/4 Indians throwing wickets. This time Ajinkya Rahane joined the exodus as Moeen Ali completed an excellent caught and ball for himself. Rahana chipped the ball back to the Moeen and the English celebration followed. Moeen's figure: 4-11-2. Ajinkya Rahane c & b Moeen Ali 1 (9b) =================================================== Over 22|| Score 55/3 Two wickets in two balls for England and India are stuttering in Manchester. First Gautam Gambhir fished into a shortish, off the mark delivery from James Anderson. The ball, after clipping Gambhir's glove, landed inside the wicket-keeper's waiting glove. Then, Moeen Ali struck with his first ball of third over, thanks to a contentious LBW decision. Unlucky for Pujara. Gautam Gambhir c Jos Buttler b James Anderson 18 (53b) Cheteshwar Pujara lbw b Moeen Ali 17 (38b) India still need 161 runs to make England bat again. =================================================== Over 15|| Score 33/1 It's Tea time at Old Trafford. India still trail England by 182 runs. In the centre are Gautam Gambhir and Cheteshwar Pujara. Gambhir has two boundaries in his 12 from 41 balls. Certainly a good start. He and Pujara will need to bat out the remaining overs to give a realistic survival chance to India. Alastair Cook brought in Moeen Ali just before the tea. =================================================== Over 11|| Score 26/1 Murali Vijay gone. Plumb in front as Chris Woakes gets his first wicket of the series, and second for the Test career. Poor application from the Indian opener. A reluctant back-foot defensive play. It took a while for umpire Erasmus to raise the finger, but the ball was holding its line and straight into the pads. Murali Vijay lbw b Chris Woakes 18 (36b) =================================================== Over 8|| Score 10/0 With more than fifty overs left in the play today, Indian openers are applying all their defensive skills to see off the new ball. England have so far used three bowlers, all pace, and are busy keeping Vijay and Gambhir silent. India still trail England by 205 runs. Some task for the tourists at hand! In between, here's the latest Broad update

Broad: Currently being stitched will continue to receive treatment before a decision is made about when he returns to field of play #EngvInd

— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) August 9, 2014

=================================================== Over 2|| Score 2/0 Murali Vijay and Gautam Gambhir started India's second innings. For England, James Anderson open the bowling with the Old Trafford pitch still showing life, plenty of bounce and movement. With Stuart Broad unavailable, Chris Woakes shared the new ball with Anderson. Thanks to that couple of runs from the first two overs, India reduced the lead to 213. =================================================== England 1st Innings, India (152 All Out) Over 105.3|| Score 367/9 Ravindra Jadeja got the better of James Anderson. LBW! And that's the end of England's first innings as Stuart Broad failed to walk out to bat. England has got an first innings lead of 215 runs and it will be a huge task for the Indians to avoid defeat with more than two days remaining. James Anderson lbw b Ravindra Jadeja 9 (19b) =================================================== Over 98|| Score 338/8 Post-lunch session started in an ominous fashion with Stuart Broad getting hit in the face off a delivery from Varun Aaron. The English batsman was looking in a dangerous mood hitting two successive sixes but the fifth ball of the 98th over drilled through the grill of the helmet. One nasty blow. One bad sight for a ball and bat game. With that Broad retired hurt. Stuart Broad retired hurt 12 (6b) =================================================== LUNCH at Old Trafford Over 97|| Score 325/8 Pankaj Singh got his second wicket, just four balls before the lunch. This time the wicket of Jos Buttler. The English batsman paid the price for playing an expansive drive to an full, outside off ball from the lanky Indian bowler. Cheteswhar Pujara has it easy at mid-off. At lunch, England extended the lead to 173 runs with two wickets in hand. Jos Buttler c Cheteswhar Pujara b Pankaj Singh 70 (130b) =================================================== Over 95|| Score 316/7 India finally got the breaktrhough as Pankaj Singh got his first wicket of the match in the form on Joe Root. A misdirected short ball which was heading down the leg side, got a faint edge of Root's glove as the English batsman tried to glance, half-heartedly. Dhoni completed a simple catch behind the stumps. That happened in the second ball of the 92nd over. Despite the fall of the wicket, the run flow continues for England and the second innings lead is now a healthy 164. Joe Root c MS Dhoni b Pankaj Singh 77 (161b) =================================================== Over 90 || Score 287/6 India's poor show in the field continued. This time captain Dhoni missed a simple run-out as Buttler misjudged a run and came back for a second. The throw fired in was accurate and right over the stumps but Dhoni did failed to collect the ball. Buttler was well out of the crease despite putting in a dive. That was India's second missed opportunity of the day. They have shot themselves in the foot this morning. ============================================================== Over 88 || Score 282/6 India haven't been able to cause any problems to the two batsmen. Apart from one dropped catch by Kohli, both Root and Buttler have played sensible cricket. Varun Aaron was brought back into the attack by Dhoni. England's lead now up to 130 runs. ============================================================== Over 86 || Score 277/6 The partnership between Root and Buttler reached 100 runs and the duo have done a remarkable repair job for England. They have put the hosts firmly in control of this Test match. ============================================================== Over 84 || Score 266/6 Bhuvi induced an outside edge from Buttler but Virat Kohli put him down in the slips. His horror series continues. Kohli attempted to take a one-handed catch low down to his left and could not hold on to the ball. Buttler was 34 and this could prove to be costly. England's lead is 114. ============================================================== Over 82 || Score 259/6 India took the second new ball and Dhoni immediately threw the red cherry to Bhuvi. Buttler scored Englan'd's first boundary of the morning with a cover drive and followed it up with a similar shot and result on the next ball. Pankaj shared the news ball with Bhuvi. ============================================================== Over 80 || Score 248/6 Varun Aaron continued from where he left off yesterday as he bowled fast and straight and even got the odd ball to bounce. After three consecutive maidens, England finally picked up two singles off Jadeja's over. ============================================================== Over 78 || Score 246/6 Varun Aaron was introduced into the attack. While Jadeja continued from the other end. England are now 94 runs ahead. ============================================================== Over 76 || Score 246/6 India's opening bowling combination of Pankaj and Jadeja kept things tight with England batsman dealing in singles. ============================================================== Over 74 || Score 243/6 MS Dhoni, in another of his mystery moves opened the attack with Ravindra Jadeja. Pankaj Singh bowled the second over of the day and Joe Root nudged him down to fine leg to complete his 7th Test fifty. ============================================================== But, Day 3 will commence as scheduled at Old Trafford. It would be interesting to see the approach adopted by Joe Root and Jos Buttler. With no surety of a clear day tomorrow, will both batsmen go after the bowling as soon as possible? Some inputs on what weather can be expected from those present at the stadium. Fair to say there is a consensus on this.

lovely blue skies. forecast for tomorrow terrible though. monday looking good for now.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) August 9, 2014

All looks good for play to start on time. Horrid tomorrow….and goodness knows how they will protect this muddy area from Bertha— Jonathan Agnew (@Aggerscricket) August 9, 2014

Suspect if this Test doesn't finish today, it will be a hurricane-ruined draw...— Lawrence Booth (@the_topspin) August 9, 2014

The forecast for Day 3 looks good and we could hope for full days play. But what makes today extremely crucial for both teams is the weather forecast for tomorrow. The Met department has issued the following warning for August 10, which is Day 4 of this Test. "There is the potential for severe weather over much of the UK during Sunday as a depression tracks over, or close to, the UK. There continues to be a great deal of uncertainty in the forecast but the public should be aware of the risk of flooding due to heavy rain as well as very strong winds and large waves, particularly on the southern side of the depression. Given the unseasonable nature of the weather this could be sufficient to disrupt transport and make outdoor activities dangerous".