4TH TEST, ENGLAND Vs INDIA ,MANCHESTER 2025 HIGHLIGHTS : Super Charged Hundreds From Gill, Sunder And Jadeja Was A Turning Point To Make 4th Test Draw .
India’s captivating series in England is heading down to the wire after the defiant touring side held out for a draw in the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Sunday. Captain Shubman Gill, a record-breaker scored his fourth hundred of the season with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar also making centuries. England still lead 2-1 in this five-match series with little time to lick their wounds before the Oval finale begins on Thursday, when an India victory in south London would permit Gill’s side to share the spoils. A draw seemed highly unlikely when India slumped to 0-2 in the second over of their second innings on Saturday, with Chris Woakes taking two wickets with successive balls after England had amassed an imposing 669 in their first innings. But Gill, on a hat-trick, then made 103 in a marathon innings lasting seven hours in total as he turned the tide in a partnership of 188 with KL Rahul that was broken just before lunch on the last day on Sunday. Jadeja, who survived despite being dropped at a difficult slip chance first ball by Joe Root, went on to make 107 not out — his first ton of the series after four fifties — with fellow spin-bowling all-rounder Sundar unbeaten on 101 for his maiden Test century. Super Charged Hundreds From Gill, Sunder And Jadeja Was A Turning Point To Make 4th Test Draw .
TOSS-
England won the toss and chose to bowl.
PLAYING XI-
England Squad:
Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Liam Dawson, Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer
India Squad:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
DAY-1
The first session was an absorbing tussle between the bowlers and batters; Chris Woakes found Jaiswal’s edge on two occasions in the very first over – both just short of the slips. Even though Jofra Archer was tight and Brydon Carse offered probing spells, the Indian openers eased themselves in with pulls and drives that saw hit the fence. Woakes took it up to Jaiswal especially, at one point even snapping his bat handle with a sharp delivery, but the left-hander struck back with a confident driven four. Jaiswal saw off the session with boundaries and even an upper-cut six off Stokes to help India end the morning session without loss.
England really got into their stride in the second session there, they picked off three massive wickets and that was through disciplined stringing of balls together and a bit of help from conditions. Woakes, Dawson and Stokes were amongst wickets, when they removed Rahul (46), Jaiswal (58) and Shubman Gill (12) in the second session to have India to 149/3 at Tea, adding 71 runs in the session. Rahul fell shortly after the drinks break in the session, when he went for a punch off the back foot to a Woakes delivery and nicked it to third slip, bringing to an end the highest opening stand of the series for India of 94.
Jaiswal kept the scoring rate up as he completed his fifty and crossed 1000 Test runs against England to make himself the joint second-fastest Indian to achieve the feat. But his brave knock came to an end when Dawson got one to kiss the edge through to slip shortly after the spinner’s introduction. Sai Sudharsan and Gill had offered some hope of rebuilding before Stokes struck first ball to pin Gill lbw as the Indian captain left alone and wasted a review in the process. Sudharsan (59 not out), who got a life when dropped at cover by Jamie Smith and edged narrowly past leg slip, joined forces with Rishabh Pant to lead India safely to Tea without further alarm.
Pant drilled one through the off side off the outer half of the bat for a boundary off Dawson before the wicketkeeper, on 12, survived an England review after being hit on the front boot by Woakes trying a reverse-sweep. But Pant, while in considerable discomfort with a visible swelling on the right foot, was eventually taken off the field with the help of an ambulance cart. Sudharsan brought up his fifty through cover off Root and Ravindra Jadeja guided Stokes for the first boundary of his reply. There was two more boundaries – Sudharsan cut Stokes and Jadeja smacked Root straight down the ground.
Stokes’ refusal to dismiss going short to Sudharsan was eventually rewarded as the left-hander top-edged a pull to fine leg and got out to the England captain for a third time this series. Thakur stepped out before Washington Sundar and drove a Stokes delivery through the point for a four. In another Stokes over, the second new ball not too far away, Jadeja seemed to be indicating that the light was not good, and the umpires were having a word as well. England persevered with spin even when the second new ball was due, but Jadeja finally hit a four off Dawson before poor light forced the players off with less than 10 minutes to play before Stumps, after 115 runs had come in the last session.
DAY-2
Earlier, Jofra Archer struck chiefly with the second new ball on day three to end the resistance of Jadeja, but India extended their total beyond 300, courtesy a 48-run association between Thakur and Washington. But the stand was broken when Thakur drove Stokes to gully and was out for 41. The burly Washington, who had taken his time to settle in, not getting off the mark in his first 19 balls, brought up the 300 for India with a boundary that took the edge.
The best part, though, was the return of Pant, who had retired hurt on 37 on Day 1 because of a foot fractured that had required him to wear a shoe on the final session of play. Greeted with a standing ovation, Pant was hobbling but he spent some time with Washington in the middle even as India struggled to run, the hosts making 57 in 23 overs to get to 321 for six at Lunch. India lost wickets in a heap after Lunch as Stokes cut short Washington’s stay getting him caught in the fine leg while trying to pull. And Kamboj went for a duck when he edged Stokes behind to give the England captain his first five-wicket haul since September 2017.
Pant kept the fight on, by hitting a six off Archer and a four, for a 69-ball fifty off Stokes. But he also fell just as quickly, bowled by a beauty from Archer. Bumrah swatted an Archer delivery through leg for a four to take India beyond 350, but Siraj roared a boundary over Stokes’ head. Bumrah was caught behind playing a pull and Root convinced his captain to go for a review as India lost 4 wickets in 37 runs coming in 9.1 overs after lunch.
The stand was eventually broken as Jadeja got one to turn away from Crawley and the outside edge was taken by KL Rahul at first slip with a sharp low catch. Duckett, however, seemed to be moving well for his 74-ball half-century and was targetting Siraj for a slew of boundaries as he moved into the 90s. but fell six short of the hundred when he was caught behind trying a cut, to provide Kamboj with his first Test victim. But India’s debutant was at times wayward and gave away more boundaries with both Ollie Pope and Joe Root pulling England across 200. India had a look once Bumrah got one to slam into Root and did not choose to review. Openers Root, who played a neat straight drive for a four off Kamboj, and Pope, had seen through the final over of the day from Bumrah and even hit him for a boundary.
DAY-3
Root and Pope were able to find the boundary regularly and got the scoreboard ticking along at a decent lick, despite Root passing a couple of landmarks during his innings. He was the first batter to reach 1000 Test runs at Old Trafford, has overtaken Rahul Dravid and Jacques Kallis on the list of most Test runs, and compiled his 104th fifty-plus score in Tests, passing Ricky Ponting for second place on that list. Pope, attacked at times by Jadeja and Anshul Kamboj, managed to play around and pounce on the loose deliveries as the pair ran India into the ground.
After Lunch It was a relentless rout for England in the second session, Root just tickling a leg-side delivery from Jadeja to the fence to race past few landmarks. India hit back briefly through Washington Sundar who broke the third-wicket partnership with a delivery that drifted before taking the edge from Pope to KL Rahul at slip. He then castled Harry Brook for 3 with another lovely drifter that completely beat the batsman, reviving India’s hope of a comeback. Taking into account the off spinner’s effectiveness, India decided to wait until the 91st to take the second new ball, by which time England had erased the deficit.
Stokes appeared to up the ante when he tried to hit Jadeja and Washington as he drove and played a reverse-sweep off reverse-sweep and pull of the spinners for couple of boundaries. Siraj was called back and he short to both batters and was tonked for a four by Stokes, looking like he’d cramped up and was not running well. He eventually retired hurt, limping to the dressing room up the stairs. Root then went on to raise his 16th 150-plus score in Tests before Jadeja got one to drift away from him to have him stumped – for only the second time in the batter’s career.
The wicketkeeper-batter had managed only 23 runs in an innings in which England had passed 500 and their lead was heading for 150, and when they got there he was there when Bumrah returned for his second spell and turned one just enough to get him to chase it and edge it to slip, and England were eight wickets down. Dawson followed up with 13 in a 47-run stand for the seventh wicket with Chris Woakes before the all-rounder was bowled by Siraj, who completed his maiden Test wicket. Stokes came back towards the fag end of the day but he appeared far from being fully fit, limping while trying to run. He was however unbeaten alongside Dawson at Stumps, facing up to overs from Bumrah, Jadeja and Siraj.
DAY-4
In the morning, Stokes had set the Tone with a magnificent 141 — his first Test century in two and a half years — as the hosts piled up a monster 669. India would have wanted to pick up the tail quickly on a grey morning in Manchester, but Stokes had other ideas. When Dawson fell cheaply to Jasprit Bumrah, the English captain went into counterattacking mode, making his century with a superb leg glance for four off Mohammed Siraj and then smashing a further 41 runs in only 34 balls. In the process, he became only the third allrounder in Test history to achieve the 7000-run and 200-wicket double. Carse contributed a fluent 47 as England went after both spin and pace before being bowled out shortly before Lunch.
The momentum didn’t stop there. India had three overs to bat for the break and Woakes hurled down a devastating double-wicket maiden that left the tourists reeling. Yashasvi Jaiswal got done in by away movement, Sai Sudharsan got caught in two minds, edging behind on successive balls. India had not scored a run in their second innings when the damage was inflicted. Gill thereafter survived a tight LBW call on the hat-trick ball and made it to the end of the session.
Under pressure, the couple also managed to find release in the periodic boundary. Gill produced a few classy shots, a cover drive and upper cut against Archer. Carse and Woakes persisted in asking questions, but England burnt a second review when Carse pinned Gill on the pad and replays suggested it was going down. Gill received a slice of luck when Dawson dropped him at gully and Rahul also got away with a fine top-edged sweep that didn’t carry to the fielder. Gill would achieve another fifty in the series later as India went to Tea without any further loss.
Dawson did have one arm ball to jag in rapidly to Gill and almost got him lbw, only an inside edge away from the successful appeal. But other than that, the Indian batters were hardly tested as they extended their partnership beyond 150. Rahul then hit Woakes for two fours and Gill cut a Dawson delivery for a four. Dawson and Root operated in tandem before the Stumps but they could not break the third-wicket partnership.
DAY-5
In the morning session, Rahul and Gill resumed their dogged partnership – one that had rescued India from the brink on Wednesday evening. But on a wearing pitch of inconsistent bounce — some deliveries shot menacingly high, and others kept perilously low — England continued to test India. Stokes, who had not bowled on Day 4 due to cramp, posed the biggest threat and he gave his side their first breakthrough of Day 5 when he trapped Rahul LBW with an in-decker that kept horribly low on 90.
Gill, however, had a couple of close LBW shouts and a blow on his gloves on his way to the eighth Test hundred. The Indian captain’s patience, however, snapped towards the end of the session as he was caught trying to drive a wide delivery from Jofra Archer that gave England an opening. Jadeja was then dropped by Joe Root at slip off the very next ball – something that England will look back on with great frustration at the close as it was the last opportunity they would have for the rest of the day.
With confidence starting to bloom, they started to play with a bit more adventure – a point made when Washington hacked a six and a four to bring up his fifty of some style and Jadeja celebrated his fifty with a boundary three balls later.
The pair were rather more serious faced at the beginning of the final session – swapping their policy of cautious but assured play for one of aggressive counter-attack. Jadeja, especially, was a man transformed, twice charging down the wicket to attack Liam Dawson in the second over of the session. Aside from a smattering of optimistic LBW claims, England continued to toil as fruitlessly as the day unfolded. But with the Indian pair in no mood to cave in, Stokes turned to Archer to deliver a short-pitched burst – it produced no joy either. The Indians ploughed on, 2-77 clear and they’d have none of it when Stokes extended his hand when the final hour was called.
A stony-faced England were left to watch on as both Jadeja and Washington moved up another gear, the latter striking three boundaries in a row – all off Root. The fun did not stop there as Jadeja brought up his hundred with another maximum to the one charged by Harry Brook. Washington would also bring up his maiden Test ton in the following over from Brook before the players exchanged handshakes to confirm the draw.
Brief scores:
India 358 (Sai Sudharsan 61, Yashasvi Jaiswal 58; Ben Stokes 5-72) & 425/4 (Ravindra Jadeja 107\*, Shubman Gill 103, Washington Sundar 101\*; Chris Woakes 2-77) drew with England 669 (Joe Root 150, Ben Stokes 141; Ravindra Jadeja 4-143).