Southampton, Aug 31 (IANS) India rode an undefeated half century stand between skipper Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara to reach 100/2 after losing two early wickets in the morning session on Day 2 of the fouth Test against England at the Rose Bowl Cricket Ground here on Friday.
At the break, Pujara (28 batting) and Kohli (25 batting) went back undivided after pacer Stuart Broad had jolted the visitors with the wickets of the openers -- Lokesh Rahul (19) and Shikhar Dhawan (23), following a decent start.
Resuming the day at 19/0, the Indian openers played out the initial few overs watchfully, adding another 18 runs before Broad trapped Rahul to draw first blood for the hosts.
Joined by No.3 Pujara, Dhawan looked good during his brief stay, cutting and flashing three boundaries in no time before failing to control his instincts and offered a thick edge off a Broad delivery to be caught by Jos Buttler behind the stumps.
Reduced to 37/2, the onus of rebuilding the innings once again fell on Kohli and Pujara, and the right-handed duo did that in style with a solid batting effort, that saw them forge a 63-run unbeaten stand.
Meanwhile, Kohli also became the quickest Indian to enter the elite club of batsmen notching 6,000 Test runs. Earlier, Sunil Gavaskar had achieved the landmark in 117 innings, while the 29-year-old Kohli took two innings less to get to the feat.
Brief Scores: England 246 vs India 100/2 (Cheteshwar Pujara 28 bating, Virat Kohli 25 batting; Stuart Broad 2/34).
