Team India under Virat Kohli had toured England for a five-match test series. The visitors had lost the first by a small margin at Edgbaston. This was followed by a comprehensive loss at the home of cricket in Lord’s. The pressure was on Virat Kohli to win the third Test match at Nottingham and keep the series alive.
India came into the contest with their tails up as a young Rishabh Pant made his Test debut. In his very first ball for India, the youngster stepped down the track and hit Adil Rashid over his head for a six.
Virat Kohli was the man of the match as he scored 97 and 103 runs with the bat. Hardik Pandya who was playing Test cricket back then was the best bowler for India as he picked his maiden fifer.
Team India make a tremendous comeback
It was India who batted first and put on 329 on the board. Chris Woakes got rid of Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan for 35 and KL Rahul for 23. The right-arm pacer then got the key wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara for 14. Ajinkya Rahane joined Virat Kohli as the pair added 159 runs for the 4th wicket in over 40 overs.
Rahane was out for 81 while Virat Kohli fell three short of his Test ton to Adil Rashid. The Indian lower order crumbled as they were bowled out for 329 as Stuart Broad, James Anderson, and Chris Woakes picked three wickets each.
In reply, England were bowled out for 161 to fall short of the Indian 1st innings score by 168 runs. Hardik Pandya picked his only test fifer and ended with figures of 5/28. Jos Buttler was the best batter for England as he scored 39 runs off 32 balls.
Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul started aggressively as the pair added 60 runs for the 1st wicket in 11.2 overs. Ben Stokes then dismissed Rahul for 36 while Dhawan was out for 44 to Adil Rashid. Pujara batted well to score 72 off 208 balls as he was dismissed by Ben Stokes caught by Alastair Cook.
Virat Kohli carried on and went on to score 103 runs from 197 balls to record his second ton of the series. Hardik Pandya then struck a run-a-ball 52 before India declared the innings to set England a target of 521 to win.
Barring a century by Jos Buttler (106) and 62 by Ben Stokes none of the England batters put up a fight. The end came on the fifth day morning as James Anderson fell for 11 caught by Rahane to give Ashwin his only wicket of the game. India made it 2-1 but sadly lost the next two games in Southampton and Oval.