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England v India, Third Test: David Saker praises inexperienced attack after day four

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David Straker lauded both batsmen and bowlers as England edged closer to victory in the third Test against India.

England bowling coach David Saker reserved special praise for his bowlers as Alastair Cook’s men closed in on their first Test victory in almost a year.

Having needed only 14 balls to bring India's first innings to an end on 330 on Wednesday morning, England declared at tea having made 205-4 in their second innings to set India what would be a highest-ever fourth innings run chase of 445 runs to win the third Investec Test.

Their quest for a first victory 11 Tests became all the more probable as India stuttered to stumps on day four on 112-4 in their second innings and, given that the visitors still require 333 runs to win with their top four batsman back in the pavilion thanks to some fine work by England's attack, Saker paid tribute to his charges.

He told Sky Sports 2: "The impressive thing has been their attitude. They've got stuck in and just gone and done their work and the results have come with that and that's testament to this group.

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"We've got a young group, pretty much other than Jimmy (Anderson) and Stuart (Broad), who have been really good in the way they have led us in this Test."

Skills

Paying special tribute to Anderson, who finished the day with figures of none for 13 from eight second-innings overs to go with his first-innings haul of five for 53, Saker added: "He's gone back to that magnificent control.

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"We know he's got the skill but if he backs that up with the control and putting the ball in difficult position for the batters, he always gets those rewards.

"We had a big chat about making sure we put the ball in a position where it is tough for the batsman, and we then use our skills to maybe move the ball and that's pretty much what's happened so far this game."

Looking ahead to Thursday, Saker insisted England's bowlers simply need to reproduce their sterling Wednesday efforts to close in on what would be a much-celebrated victory.

He said: "(It's about) running in and delivering the ball hard at a length, hitting the stumps as many times as you can and looking for the pads and the outside edge.

"It was pleasing today because we did have a couple of half appeals with inside edges hitting the pads and we got past the outside edge a bit.

"It's still going to be tough work for the seamers, there's no doubt about it."

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