Hanuma Vihari dropped catch: The Indian batter erred on the field to hand a massive reprieve to an in-form batter.
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During the fourth day of the ongoing fifth rescheduled Test match between England and India in Birmingham, India batter Hanuma Vihari found himself on the wrong end of a catching opportunity only to hand a massive reprieve to England batter Jonny Bairstow.
It all happened on the fourth delivery of the 38th over when Bairstow’s attempt to cut a short Mohammed Siraj delivery saw him edging the ball towards Vihari at fourth slip.
With the ball travelling fast through the flashing blade of Bairstow, Vihari had little time to react but an international cricketer is expected to grab such a catch especially after considering the form of the batter and match situation.
Fielding at fourth slip in place of regulars namely Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, comfortable height of the catch is another reason why Vihari should’ve caught the ball. Vihari, who appeared to have been slow to react, ended up leaking four runs instead.
Bairstow, who was batting at 14* at that moment, received another life when India vice-captain Rishabh Pant dropped him behind the stumps. Having said that, Pant’s chance was quite difficult as compared to Vihari. On 39* when Pant erred, Bairstow continued on his supreme nick to complete a half-century at Edgbaston today.
An unbeaten 150-run fourth-wicket partnership between former captain Joe Root (76*) and Bairstow (72*) has put England in a commanding position in what will be a record 378-run chase. Readers must note that the hosts need 119 runs with seven wickets in hand on Day 5.
Hanuma Vihari dropped catch off Jonny Bairstow
Twitter reactions on Hanuma Vihari:
Vihari!!!!!!
This catch feels like it will be costly!
— Abhimanyu Bose (@bose_abhimanyu) July 4, 2022
After that dropped catch from Vihari, the body language of Indian camp has gone negative. Way too many easy singles and free boundaries given to the in-form India batters. No effort to string together a spell of tight overs and slow the game down a bit. #CricketTwitter
— Prabuddha Ghosh (@TheCluelessBong) July 4, 2022
Probably stating the bleeding obvious but Vihari’s drop to give Bairstow a life could be a decisive moment. Given his form and the ease of the catch it’s left India shell shocked and given England momentum. #ENGvIND
— John Baldock (@JohnKGBaldock) July 4, 2022
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