Follow UsEngland continued their domination in the Manchester Test as they managed to win all three sessions, managing to not just go past India's total but taking a massive lead.
Joe Root owned the day as his epic 150 made him the second-highest run-getter in Test cricket with him surpassing Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting.
Skipper Ben Stokes stepped up big time with the bat as well, after taking a five wicket haul, with an unbeaten 77* at the end of Day 3. Indian pacers were thrashed as spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar managed to get major breakthroughs with two wickets a piece.
With the Test match hanging in the balance, here are possible things we can expect from Day 4.
England batters have been fantastic as they have posted 544 runs at the end of Day 3. It is the best batting average in the second innings at a venue in England since 2021 as it is the only venue to have a 50+ average. The remaining batters will hope to support Ben Stokes and stretch this innings lead as much as possible. It could be really tricky for India in the third innings, with the average third innings score at the venue being just over 200. Tough day coming up for the visitors.
Shubman Gill's bat has been silenced in the last three innings. He has been quite after the epic 430 runs he pilled up in Birmingham. He will be expected to get a big score as his record in the third innings is spectacular. He has averaged 54.86 in the third innings of a Test, with four of his eight centuries coming in this phase of the Test.
Brydon Carse has been the workhorse of England in this Test series. He has managed to take wickets occasionally, but he is yet to have an innings with him being the leading wicket-taker. That can possibly happen on Saturday as in his short Test career so far, he has managed to be at his best on Day 4, taking 10 wickets at an average of just 15.6, which is best across the days.
Old Trafford weather update for Saturday
There is good news and bad news for India. The good news is that it is expected to rain a little. There’s over 30% chance of rain between 9 am and 12 PM, and showers are expected around 1 PM. There’s over 50% chance of rain around 1 PM.
So, what’s the bad news? Well, it’s expected to not rain for the rest of the day, but also it’s expected to be mostly cloudy. That’s not good news for the visitors as they will be batting, and cloudy conditions will go a long way in aiding the England bowlers.