A brilliant century by Ravichandran Ashwin (106) helped India set  a 482-run target for England at Chepauk on Monday. In their chase, England lost the wickets of both openers Sibley and Burns as well as Jack Leach. At 53/3, the visitors need 429 runs to with with two days remaining.

It was Ashwin who shone the brightest during the third day of the second Test against England. Before Ashwin hit a century, it was captain Virat Kohli, who struck a calculated 25th Test half-century and steadied the Indian innings after a top-order collapse.

Except for Kohli and Ashwin, the Indian top-order fell like a pack of cards as England bowlers ran riot in the first hour of the morning session. Resuming day three with an overnight score of 42/1, India led England by a massive 351 runs at lunch.

While Kohli showed his class before falling to Moeen Ali for the second time in the game, Ashwin too displayed remarkable skills on a challenging surface to prop up the home team.

Both Kohli and Ashwin played clever cricket and upped their ante, scoring runs at ease and hitting occasional boundaries. While Kohli departed for 62, Ashwin, on 106, was the last Indian wicket to fall.

This only cements India’s position more firmly as they aim to level the four-match Test series.

Cheteshwar Pujara was the first to take the long walk back, courtesy of an unlucky moment at the crease. Rohit Sharma followed suit, giving away his wicket for 26 runs to Jack Leach.

The English bowling combination of Jack Leach and Moeen Ali did not allow the Indian batsmen to settle down as they kept chipping away at the wickets.

Before the drinks break, India lost their vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane for 10.

Ahead of the day’s start, Murali Karthik and Mark Butcher said that the wicket looked worse than day one. “On a wicket like this you have everything tailor-made for you and all you have to do is land it on the right areas,” the Day 3 pitch report said.

Brief Scores: England 1st Innings: 134 all out India: 329 and 286 all out in 86.5 overs (Virat Kohli 62, Ravichandran Ashwin 106; Moeen Ali 4/98, Jack Leach 4/100).