Jos Buttler hit his first Test century as England finally offered some resistance against India in the third Test at Trent Bridge.

In an uncharacteristically resilient knock, the Lancashire wicketkeeper-batsman reached three figures from 152 balls, sharing an unbroken stand of 158 for the fifth wicket with Ben Stokes with 23 overs of day four remaining.

Pursuing what would be a record chase of 521 to go 3-0 up in the series, England had reached 220 for four midway through the evening session – with all of the wickets falling before lunch.

The fifth-wicket stand came after Keaton Jennings was out in the opening over of the day, before Alastair Cook, Joe Root and Ollie Pope were also dismissed to leave the hosts heading towards a resounding defeat.

The reintroduction of Ravi Ashwin initially posed problems for the left-handed Stokes, but the recalled all-rounder settled to reach 52 not out to give renewed belief that England could yet take this match into a final day.

Buttler, dropped on one by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, reached his milestone in style by flicking Mohammed Shami to the leg-side boundary.

Virat Kohli
India, captained by Virat Kohli, remain in control in Nottingham (Mike Egerton/PA)

The record fourth-innings score to win a Test is 418, by the West Indies against Australia in 2003.

After resuming on 23 without loss after nine overs, England suffered an almost instant blow when Jennings was caught behind off the fifth ball of a cloudy morning from Ishant Sharma – who then removed Cook in his next over, caught at second slip.

In only his second Test, Pope was off the mark first ball with an off-driven four off Ishant. Captain Root had more trouble getting started but by mid-session, the third-wicket pair had taken England to 62 without serious further alarm.

Ben Stokes (centre) also passed 50 to frustrate the tourists
Ben Stokes (centre) also passed 50 to frustrate the tourists (Mike Egerton/PA)

But Root then fenced an edge to second slip off Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul holding his fifth catch of the match away to his right.

Then Pope went after an expansive drive at Mohammed Shami but instead edged high to third slip, where Virat Kohli dived across Rahul for a memorable catch.

Buttler and Stokes were therefore plunged into the crisis without a run between them, with England perhaps already effectively five down if they decide not to risk Jonny Bairstow’s fractured finger, but they dug in impressively.