Daily Mirror

HOME RAHUL

- FROM DEAN WILSON Cricket Correspond­ent in Chennai d.wilson@trinitymir­ror.com

ENGLAND endured another miserable day in the field as Kannur Lokesh Rahul punished them with a magnificen­t 199.

The only surprise of the day was that it was he who ground down England and not Virat Kohli, who failed to top 40 for the first time in the series.

Instead Rahul – known as KL – became the ninth player in Test cricket to be dismissed one run sort of a double hundred.

And just like Ian Bell against South Africa in 2008, he had only himself to blame, swatting an innocuous Adil Rashid delivery to cover.

The India opener sat on his haunches for a minute (above) after Jos Buttler’s catch and was still in a daze even as Ben Stokes went over to shake his hand.

“It was a good day until I got out,” said Rahul of his fourth Test ton. “It was just unfortunat­e the pressure of getting a double hundred got to me.

“I was really disappoint­ed because 200 is a big landmark for any batsman. I am gutted to miss out. I was so excited about that one run I forgot to take my time. I felt I rushed into the shot and it’s more disappoint­ing to get out to a ball like that, it hurts even more.”

There was no sympathy in the England dressing room for their vanquished opponent, who made the most of a benign surface.

“He played well but at the end of the day you’ll take his wicket,” said Stokes bluntly.

There was no swing or seam for England’s quicker bowlers and their spinners remain a league below India’s, even if Rashid did collect his 23rd wicket of the series. Alastair Cook dropped a catch at slip when Karun Nair edged the second new ball on 34, which just about summed up their day and their series.

Asked what England can take from a long day in the field and taking just the four wickets, Stokes smiled and said: “A bit of sunburn probably. In every game they’ve had someone to go on and make a difference with a big score. It’s nice to see the back of Kohli but unfortunat­ely they had someone else who managed a big score.”

England coach Trevor Bayliss is to miss the end of the fifth Test as he will be going back to Australia today for hernia surgery. Paul Farbrace will take charge of the team.

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