Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara both scored centuries as India’s score read 319/4 at the end of play on day three of the first Test at Rajkot.

Pacer Stuart Broad, playing in his 100th Test, picked up the wicket of Indian opener Gautam Gambhir in just the second over of the day and it looked like England had an opening.

But that hope wasn’t to last long as Pujara joined Vijay in the middle and the duo added 209 runs for the second wicket.

Playing on his home ground, Pujara showed a different side of his game as he notched up his ninth Test century while playing in an attacking manner.

Soon after the Saurashtra batsman got to the three-digit mark, his partner Murali Vijay followed suit, with the Indian opening batsman bringing up his first Test ton since June 2015.

England staged a bit of a comeback late in the day, with the final two overs on Friday fetching the visitors two wickets. Vijay’s dismissal for 126 was soon followed by nightwatchman Amit Mishra falling for a two-ball duck.

The game is now delicately poised with India trailing England by 218 runs with six wickets in hand. A lot will depend on how Indian skipper Virat Kohli and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane fare first thing on Saturday.

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