All-rounder Shardul Thakur helped India solidify their lead against England in the ongoing fourth Test at Oval by smashing his second half century of the match. Batting at 8, Shardul scored 60 off 72 balls before getting out to England skipper Joe Root just before the Tea session. Thakur put on a 100-run partnership with wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant who was caught out on 50.

India were 127-7 after batting in overcast conditions, when Thakur scored a quickfire 57 off 36 balls in the first innings to help India post a total of 191 after a batting collapse that saw the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Cheteshwar Pujara depart for partly scores of 11, 17, and 4, respectively. Shardul added 63 for the eighth wicket with Umesh to take the total closer to 200.

His 31-ball fifty that included seven fours and three sixes in a superb innings of 57, was the fastest Test half-century in England in terms of balls faced.

Shardul took four wickets in the first test match  against England before a hamstring injury forced him to miss the second and third matches of the series.

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With half-centuries in the fourth Test and three wickets, Shardul Thakur has already scored more runs than Ajinkya Rahane and taken more wickets than Ravindra Jadeja in India’s tour of England.

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India have taken a solid lead against England in the second innings of the fourth test. At 445/8, India have secured a 346-run lead against the home team. Virat Kohli missed out on a half century by just six runs.

India finished a dominant day three with a score of 270 for the loss of three, as the top three batsmen fired in unison to put the visitors in a strong position. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul added 83 runs for the first wicket, before the ‘Hitman’ stitched a 153-run stand with Cheteshwar Pujara.