Dhoni in Test Match #18: Day 4

India vs England, India in England, Pataudi Trophy Test Series (2007) - 1st Test
Date: 19-23 July 2007

Day 4 (22 July 2007):

A hero is one who survives in tough conditions. If that is the definition of a hero, then Pieterson would be an ideal person to fit that tag. While half-centuries are difficult to come by, he brought up his century in style. He blasted the Indian bowlers during the post lunch session. At one stage, England scored 32 runs from just 3 overs. Pieterson rushed to his century with a four and a six off Anil Kumble, in a over that cost 15 runs. Pieterson's 119-run partnership with Prior left the Indians far behind. RP Singh was the pick of the Indian bowlers, claiming his first 5-wicket haul.

Chasing a victory target of 380 runs, the Indians were down at 137 for the loss of Jaffer, Dravid and Sachin. Once again, Karthik played a positive knock and brought up another half-century. His 53-run unbeaten partnership with Ganguly gave some respect to the score at the end of the day.

The Indians have very little hope to win or even save this match. I hope the batsmen will be praying for a rain interruption to help them.

1st innings:
England 298 (Strauss 96, Vaughan 79, Sree Santh 3 for 67)
India 201 (Jaffer 58, Dhoni 0, Anderson 5 for 42)

2nd innings:
England 282 (Pieterson 134, RP Singh 5 for 59)
India 137/3 (Karthik 56 not out)