Vaughan predicts India out of hunt for victory, 115 overs to bowl the hosts out in Chennai

With India toiling hard to bowl out England in the second innings, former English skipper Michael Vaughan has predicted that the hosts are out of the race for victory in the first Test of the series in Chennai. As England leads by more than 400 runs with still 4 wickets in hand, Indian bowlers are gunning hard to rattle the remaining batsmen and keep the lead as short as possible, considering that only one day of play remains. However, Vaughan has ruled out Team India from the race to victory adding that the pitch has turned 'very very spicy'. 

Taking to Twitter, Vaughan on Monday, stated that he would want minimum 115 overs in the last day of play to bowl out the Indian batsmen with a lead of more than 400 runs in their bag. "I can't see how India could possibly chase 400 on this pitch," Vaughan tweeted. 

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Day 4 gets intense

After the heroic Pant & Pujara partnership on Day 3, England bowlers came back stronger on Day 4 as they rattled out the remaining Indian batsmen restricting their innings to just 337 runs. Washington Sundar played another brilliant innings to bridge the gap and reduce the deficit as he scored 85 runs before running out of partners from the other end. The English batsmen came out all guns blazing in the second innings, however, the Indian bowlers got the better of them as they managed to pick quick wickets. 

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Skipper Joe Root has been sensational with a double century in the first innings and a quickfire 40 runs in the second to propel their lead. Ravichandran Ashwin has been the pick of bowlers as he accounted for 3 wickets, with Ishant Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem and Jasprit Bumrah picking one wicket each. 

Skipper Joe Root scored a superb double century in his 100th Test as England continued to frustrate India, amassing 578 in the first innings of the Chennai Test. The 30-year-old Root became the first player to notch up a double ton in his 100th Test on the way to his 218 off 377 balls, while Ben Stokes hit a counter-attacking 82 off 118 balls, studded with 10 fours and three sixes. On Day 3, Rishabh Pant's beautiful edge-of-the-seat hitting ended with his now customary indiscretion, putting India under the pump against a supremely confident England gunning for victory at the end of third day's play.

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