India vs England: Lokesh Rahul's 199 lifts India to 391/4

Chennai: Indian opener Lokesh Rahul broke his Test jinx on Indian grounds by hitting a brilliant unbeaten double century to lift India to 391/4 against England on Day 3 of the fifth and final Test being played at MA Chidambaram stadium here on Sunday.

At stumps, India looked in a comfortable situation as after Rahul's 199 runs off 311 balls, Karun Nair (71*) and Murli Vijay (17*) were standing at the crease.

Earlier, Indian openers Rahul and Parthiv Patel (71 off 112) laid a solid foundation of Indian inning in reply to England's first innings total of 477 runs by adding 152 runs for the first wicket.

This was Lokesh Rahul's first ever fifty-plus score on Indian soil in the five innings he had played till this one. His previous best score in India was 38 runs and he had aggregated 104 runs in the five innings here.

Also Read: IndvsEng, 5th Test: India 60/0 at stumps in reply to England’s 477

This is Rahul's 4^th hundred in 11 matches as an opener since January 2015 which is most by any other Indian opener during the period. Mixing innovation with solid technique, Rahul impressed everyone while hitting 16 fours and 3 sixes during his 199-run innings. He missed a deserving double century by misjudging one of Adil Rashid's deliveries and going after it only to give a simple catch to Jos Buttler at the cover point.

Cheteshwar Pujara (16) got out to Ben Stokes as he edged a ball travelling outside the off stump. To England's relief, skipper Virat Kohli (15) also went back cheaply in this innings trying to drive a ball bowled by Stuart Broad, which hit his bat's upper part and went straight to the hands of Keaton Jennings in the extra cover.

Also Read: Smith, Root and Williamson better than me in Tests, says Virat

Stuart Broad, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid and Ben Stokes have picked one wicket each so far.

India still trail by 86 runs with 6 wickets remaining in the fifth and final match of the series which India has already won 3-0.