India went into the first test as heavy betting favorites as they were playing England at home. If you put your money on India before the start of the first test in Chennai, you might be kicking yourself as India bowled poorly and then battled poorly.
If you did not bet on the first test, you still have a chance to do so. Before the start of the fourth day’s play, England are favorites with odds of 5/4 on Bet365. India are massive underdogs with odds of 28/1 and the chance of a draw is currently at 8/11. You can bet at Bet365 below.
England In Command After Day 3
We said prior to the start of the Chennai test that England’s best chance to win the four match series was to start by winning the first test in Chennai. England had to do two things right to gain an advantage in the first test and that was getting their playing XI combination correct and winning the toss.
England won the toss and wasted no time in electing to bat on a Chennai pitch that was expected to offer a lot of assistance to the spinners on day 4 and 5. England had to capitalize on batting first and they did exactly that by batting for two days and piling on the runs.
Captain Joe Root led from the front once again and scored his second double hundred in 2021. Root scored a brilliant 218 at a strike rate of over 57. He received great support from Dom Sibley (87), vice-captain Ben Stokes (82) and a couple of 30s from Jos Butler and Dom Bess.
England not only piled on the runs but also wore out the Indian bowlers at the start of the series. R Ashwin sent down over 50 overs, S Nadeem bowled 44 overs and J Bumrah sent down 36 overs. England got to a commanding total of 578 which makes it very difficult for them to lose the first test.
India Do Not Show Enough Intent
After their fantastic series win in Australia under interim captain A Rahane, this Indian team was expected to dominate England. However, they looked rather flat from Day 1 under the leadership of Virat Kohli.
While it is true that the pitch did not offer a lot of assistance to the Indian bowlers on Day 1, it did not feel like they were fully focussed throughout the game either with the ball or in the field. After letting England pile on the runs, India had to bat well in their first innings and they failed to do so.
They lost both their openers cheaply and it was only C Pujara who brought some stability to the batting making 73 of 143 balls. Dom Bess was brilliant with the ball as he picked up the prized scalps of V Kohli, A Rahane and C Pujara. Kohli (11) and Rahane (1) failed with the bat and India were in trouble.
R Pant played another good innings for India but got out for 91 to once again give England the advantage. At the close of day 3, India were 257/6 and now need to score a minimum of 378 in order to avoid the follow on. That looks like a big task for India given that there is not a lot left in the batting department after W Sundar and R Ashwin.
Can India Turn Things Around?
Given the fact that there is just 2 days left to play and India are trailing by over 300 runs, it appears highly unlikely that India will be able to win this game from here. The two outcomes is for England to bowl India out quickly, get a few quick runs on the board and then try and bowl India out in 5 sessions.
India will need to bat atleast 5 sessions in order to draw this test. You can place live bets on this game!
