JOIN USIntriguing final day in store
After a battle of attrition between bat and ball for most part of the final two sessions of play, the departure of both the England’s openers lifted India’s morale.
Alastair Cook (54, 221m, 189b, 4x4), who kept India at bay for more than three and half hours while displaying great temperament and impeccable technique, fell to a ball which eventually became the last one to be bowled on the day. His young partner Haseeb Hameed matched his skipper, showing admirable character and concentration for someone playing only in his second Test. The teen opener (25, 188m, 144b, 3x4), together with Cook, denied India any success in over a three-hour “blockathon” on the penultimate day of the second Test here at the ACA-VDCA YSR Stadium on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 405 in five full sessions, England chose caution over aggression as they crawled through their innings. Not once during those two sessions of their batting did they score more than two runs an over, blocking and leaving everything that India threw at them. Having used both their reviews unsuccessfully, India would have thought that they would have to end the day without any success but R Ashwin brought some cheer to a tired home camp by dismissing Hameed, who failed to block a crawler.
Nine overs later, Ravindra Jadeja trapped Cook in front. The southpaw immediately went for review but the replays showed the ball was hitting the middle of off stump. England finished the day at 87 for two in 59.2 overs – a disappointing finish to the day after all the hard work but they would have gladly accepted this situation at the start of their innings.
While England would look to draw some confidence from the way their openers handled India spinners, Virat Kohli’s men will be fancying their chances after two quick successes. England trail India by 318 runs going into the final day and the history is heavily loaded in favour of India in such situations. No visiting team has scored more than 276 runs to win a Test or managed more than 272 in the fourth innings to draw. Again, no team has survived more than 143 overs in the fourth innings and England have already played 59.2 overs. It will be an even harder test of physical stamina and fortitude for England on the final day.
The pitch hasn’t yet crumbled as much as India would have liked it to but it’s far too tough here to bat than in Rajkot. It will be interesting to see if England continue with their blocking tactic. A circumspect approach would only be playing into India’s hands as they will attack them with aggressive fields. While an out and out adventurous strategy would be suicidal, England would do well to combine the patience they showed on the day with some positive intent.
In the afternoon, India’s second innings came to an end earlier than expected. A combination of fine piece of pace bowling from Stuart Broad (4/33) and some clever variations from Adil Rashid helped England restrict the hosts to 204 all out in 63.1 overs after resuming from 98/3 at stumps on Saturday. Combined with their first innings cushion of 200 runs, India swelled their lead to an imposing 405.
Overnight batsmen Kohli continued the good work to promise an exciting day for the near full-house holiday crowd. Kohli looked in supreme touch driving Broad with panache. Light on his foot and quick to judge the length of the ball, the Indian skipper was batting at a different level altogether. Kohli’s overnight partner Ajinkya Rahane was a lot more subdued and this passivity, possibly, consumed him when he was surprised by the extra bounce of Broad and steered it to Cook at slip for a tame dismissal. Despite bowling with a strained tendon in his right foot, Broad worked up good pace and used the leg-cutters to good effect.
Three overs later, the right-arm quick ejected Ashwin with another delivery that shaped away and the batsman went feeling for it. Wriddhiman Saha departed quickly, after unsuccessfully reviewing his lbw verdict. Kohli then fell to a brilliant piece of catching at slip by Ben Stokes who flew to his right to take a blinder. Jayant Yadav (27) and Mohammad Shami (19) then added 42 runs for the last wicket to ensure India could set a 400-plus target.
Scoreboard
INDIA (I Innings): 455
ENGLAND (I Innings): 255
INDIA (II Innings; O/n: 98/3):
Vijay c Root b Broad 3
(37m, 25b)
Rahul c Bairstow b Broad 10
(45m, 31b, 2x4)
Pujara b Anderson 1
(37m, 23b)
Kohli c Stokes b Rashid 81
(172m, 109b, 7x4)
Rahane c Cook b Broad 26
(93m, 65b, 2x4)
Ashwin c Bairstow b Broad 7
(15m, 12b, 1x4)
Saha lbw Rashid 2
(7m, 4b)
Jadeja c Ali b Rashid 14
(43m, 24b, 1x6)
Jayant (not out) 27
(70m, 59b, 4x4)
Umesh c Bairstow b Rashid 0
(8m, 4b)
Shami st Bairstow b Ali 19
(41m, 22b, 1x4, 2x6)
Extras (B-5, LB-8, W-1) 14
Total (all out, 63.1 overs) 204
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Vijay), 2-17 (Rahul), 3-40 (Pujara), 4-117 (Rahane), 5-127 (Ashwin), 6-130 (Saha), 7-151 (Kohli), 8-162 (Jadeja), 9-162 (Umesh).
Bowling: Anderson 15-3-33-1, Broad 14-5-33-4, Rashid 24-3-82-4, Stokes 7-0-34-0, Ali 3.1-1-9-1.
ENGLAND (II Innings):
Cook lbw Jadeja 54
(221m, 189b, 4x4)
Hameed lbw Ashwin 25
(188m, 144b, 3x4)
Root (batting) 5
(32m, 23b)
Extras (LB-3) 3
Total (for 2 wkts, 59.2 overs) 87
Fall of wickets: 1-75 (Hameed), 2-87 (Cook).
Bowling: Shami 9-2-16-0, Umesh 8-3-8-0, Ashwin 16-5-28-1, Jadeja 22.2-8-25-1, Jayant 4-1-7-0.