Ben Stokes scored his first century in over two years as England edged closer to victory in the fourth Test against India.
IND Vs ENG, 4th Test: India Fight Back On Day Four Despite Ben Stokes Century For England - Data Debrief
The visitors finished day four on 174-2, trailing by 137 runs in Manchester, and England will look to seal the series on the final day
The visitors finished day four on 174-2, trailing by 137 runs in Manchester, and England will look to seal the series on the final day.
Stokes, who started the day on 77, finished on 141 with 11 fours and three maximums, while Brydon Carse added a quickfire 47 off 54 balls as England set a total of 669 in the first innings, the highest Test score at Old Trafford.
Chris Woakes (2-48) got England off to an incredible start with the ball after removing Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudharsan for ducks in the first over of India's second innings.
However, KL Rahul (87 not out) and captain Shubman Gill (78 not out) frustrated England as they held on through the final two sessions of the day.
India's chances of victory on day five are very slim, but England will need early wickets to avoid another nail-biting finish as they had at Lord's.
Data Debrief: Stokes back to his best
This was just the second time England have reached 600 runs in a home Test in the last 20 years, along with 710-7d in 2011 against India at Edgbaston, thanks to some big hitting from captain Stokes.
Following his five wickets in India's first innings, Stokes is the first England captain to make a century and take a five-wicket haul in a Test match. He now has the joint-most Test hundreds at Old Trafford too, with three.
Stokes also cemented his place as one of the great all-rounders as he became just the third player to reach 7000+ runs and 200+ wickets, after Jacques Kallis and Garfield Sobers.
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