KL Rahul slapped with fine for showing dissent towards the umpires

Fielding is an area where we are trying to improve as a group: Paul Collingwood

The Indian batsmen thoroughly dominated the England bowlers on the third day of the fourth Test at Kennington Oval but assistant coach Paul Collingwood has backed his bowlers and said that they were quite disciplined during the course. "I thought we were very disciplined. Obviously, we've got accurate bowlers in our ranks; we stuck to our task all day," Collingwood said during the press conference. The former England all-rounder further said that it was surprising that the Duke's ball lacked swing. "I think the one thing that was surprising was the lack of swing with the Dukes ball today [on Saturday].” Collingwood lauded India opener Rohit Sharma for his performance with the bat. Sharma scored a ton in the second innings to help India take the first innings lead. "He's got a different technique, and he's played really well so far in the series,” Collingwood said. The home side faced some trouble during the fielding after the players dropped some catches in the middle. Mentioning about the same, Collingwood admitted that this is the department that needs some improvement. "It's certainly been an area that we're trying to improve as a group,” he said. "We're catching a lot of balls in practice, a lot of hard work goes into it, and the guys have just got to make sure that they're confident when they go out to field in the middle,” he further added. Riding on Rohit’s ton and some responsible batting from KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara, the visitors managed to nullify the lead that they had earlier conceded. India now lead by 171 runs and were 270/3 with captain Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease before the stumps were called on Day 3.

ENG vs IND | 4th Test | Day 3: Playing 250 balls was the most pleasing thing, says Rohit Sharma

India opener Rohit Sharma was in some fine form against England in the second innings of the fourth Test at Kennington Oval after the right-hander notched up a century to keep the visitors in front. Sharma scored 127 off 256 deliveries during the course of two steady stands, first with KL Rahul as the two openers put 83 runs on the board for the first wicket and then a 153-run partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara for the second wicket. Talking about his knock after the end of third day’s play, Rohit said that playing over 250 balls was the most “pleasing” thing. "Most pleasing thing was that I was able to play 250 balls," Rohit said in the media interaction on Saturday. Sharma further added that it was important to spend sometime in the middle and take a glance of what the bowlers are doing. “The first goal was to play balls, see how I can stay on the pitch for as long as possible because we do know that things start to get easier when you spend time in the middle, when you see what the bowlers are doing,” he added. India were 270/3, leading England by 171 runs in the second innings with captain Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten at the crease. The five-matches series is presently levelled at 1-1 after the first game at Nottingham ended in a draw while India clinched a 151-run win at Lord’s. The home side then turned tables for themselves in the third match in Leeds to clinch a victory by an innings and 76 runs.

SL vs SA | 2nd ODI: Janneman Malan, Shamsi take series into decider after thumping win

South Africa made a fine comeback in the three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka after winning the second encounter by 67 runs (DLS Method) in a rain-curtailed game in Colombo. The match was initially reduced to 47 overs per side but had to get cut short once again handing the hosts a target of 265 runs in 41 overs eventually. The home side had a dismal start to the proceedings and were reduced to 19/3 to be left tottering at 61/4 before Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka chipped in with a partnership of 64 runs for the fifth wicket. Shanaka was then sent back in the hut for 30 by Shamsi while Asalanka continued to score runs and notched up a half-century. Sri Lanka then lost a couple of more wickets and were 147/7 when Chamika Karunaratne and Dushmantha Chameera tried to provide some resistance to the team with a stand of 45 runs for the 8th wicket. But their efforts weren’t really enough to take the team over the line and the hosts were bowled out for 197 in 26.4 overs. Tabraiz Shamsi was the pick of the bowlers for the Proteas after he bagged a fifer. Earlier, South Africa rode on a brilliant ton from Janneman Malan, a fifty from Hendricks and a late surge from Klassen to post 283/6 in the allotted 47 overs. Klassen compiled 43 off 27. The visitors capitalised on the steady start that they got in the initial phase of the game to put a good total on the board. South Africa stand-in captain Keshav Maharaj lauded the team and hailed the bowling unit for their efforts after the match. “My job was made easier by the team. We bowled well up first and pushed the Lankans on the back foot. I think the boys put in more energy behind the ball today. We talked about it. You should also play to the conditions,” he said. The three-match series is levelled at 1-1 with the third and deciding match to take place on Tuesday at the same venue.

STAT ALERT: Rohit Sharma hits ninth ton in England, most by an Indian batsman

India opener Rohit Sharma etched his name in the record books after scoring a century in the fourth Test of the five-match series against England at Kennington Oval on Saturday. Sharma has now struck 9 tons, the most by an Indian batsman in England surpassing former India captain Rahul Dravid who had 8 centuries to his name in the country. The right-handed batsman achieved the feat during India’s second innings of the fourth Test. Apart from this, he has now become the only visiting batsman to have scored a hundred in all three formats in England. Sir Don Bradman holds the record for scoring most number of centuries (11) in England. The opener’s ton helped India stay in front in this encounter as the visitors nullified the first innings lead that they had conceded against the hosts. India were trailing by 99 runs at the start of the innings but a cautious start from Rohit and KL Rahul helped the visitors overcome the pressure. The two openers put 83 runs for the first wicket before Rahul departed for 46 but Sharma continued with his form and stitched another important stand of 153 runs for the second wicket with Cheteshwar Pujara. Pujara also notched up a half-century during the course. India were 270/3, leading by 171 runs with captain Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja still at the crease when the stumps were called on Day 3. The five-match series is presently levelled at 1-1. The first encounter at Nottingham ended in a draw after rain played spoilsport while the Kohli-led side clinched a comprehensive win by 151 runs in the second Test at Lord’s. England then made a fine comeback in the series and thumped India by an innings and 76 runs in the third clash to equalise the series.