5th Test: England post 12/0 on Day 4; Karun Nair's triple ton lifts India to record 759/7 declared

Chennai, Dec 19: Karun Nair notched up his maiden Test triple century (303*) and became only the second Indian batsman after Virender Sehwag to achieve the milestone as India declared their innings at a mammoth 759/7 against England in the fifth and final Test match, here.

Day 3 report; Photos

In response, the visitors batted for five overs and scored 12/0 towards the end of the day's play after India declared at their highest ever total in Test history.

The 25-year-old Nair from Karnataka blasted 32 fours and 4 sixes en route to his triple ton. India have taken a lead of 282 runs.

A triple hundred for @karun126 followed by the declaration from #TeamIndia skipper. India 759/7d, lead #ENG(477) by 282 runs pic.twitter.com/q18MnGeo59

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 19, 2016

For the visitors, skipper Alastair Cook (3) and Keaton Jennings (9) were at the crease when the umpires dislodged the bails for the day.

This is India's highest score against any opponent surpassing the previous best of 726/9 declared against Sri Lanka in 2009.

Playing only his third Test, the 25-year-old Nair forged two major partnerships - 181 for the sixth wicket with Ravichandran Ashwin (67) and then 138 for the seventh wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (51) - to take India to the record total at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here.

(Karun Nair slams maiden 300: Virender Sehwag, Chris Gayle welcome him into the elite club)

Earlier, Karun became third Indian batsman after Dilip Sardesai and Vinod Kambli to convert their maiden Test hundred to a double century.

Earlier, at the lunch interval, Ravichandran Ashwin (9) was giving company to Nair (122) at the crease with India trailing by just 14 runs and having 5 wickets in hand in their first innings. England had scored 477 in their first essay.

Vijay (29), who had come down the order at No. 6, was the only batsman dismissed in the session as Liam Dawson picked up his maiden wicket in the 124th over after trapping him in front of wicket.

(KL Rahul joins unwanted 199 club)

Earlier, resuming at an overnight score of 391-4, Nair and Vijay found the going a bit tough against the duo of Dawson and Stuart Broad.

While Dawson bothered Vijay with his slow deliveries in the 110th over, Broad almost had his man in the 115th over when he induced a slight nick off the Tamil Nadu batsman but umpire Simon Fry felt otherwise and England didn't have any reviews left.

Karun Nair now the 3rd Indian after Dilip Sardesai and Vinod Kambli to convert their maiden Test 100 to a double century!#IndvEng

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) December 19, 2016

In the next over, Nair blasted Dawson for a six over long-on, while Vijay picked up a boundary off Ben Stokes behind point in the 121st over.

One over later, Nair sliced Stokes behind point to pick up another boundary and along with it his maiden Test century and he celebrated the achievement by raising his bat.

OneIndia News

(With inputs from agencies)