India vs England, 2nd Test, Day 4: Combined bowling effort helps India win; series scoreline stands at 1-1. India beat England by 106 runs at Visakhapatnam.
Brief Scores: IND 396 (Jaiswal 209, Anderson 3/47) & 255 (Gill 104, Hartey 4/77) beat ENG 253 (Crawley 76, Bumrah 6/45) & 292 (Crawley 73, Bumrah 3/46) by 106 runs.
Player of the Match: Jasprit Bumrah (9/91)
England aggressively started the day, but India kept on hurting them with regular wickets. Both the pacers and the spinners showed assistance and a big heart to keep on hitting the same line and length to make the batters commit mistakes.
England came on the fourth day with a stiff job of needing 332 more runs, with nine wickets in hand. India, even with so much cushion, looked a little dodgy with their bowling plans to counter Bazball at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
Talking point: Bumrah & Ashwin led India’s comeback in the series
India didn’t have a great start in the day, but Ravichandran Ashwin brought them back into the contest with wickets. He kept on asking the batters some hard questions and finally got his reward. Jasprit Bumrah too picked up some crucial wickets, and even when a partnership was growing, he brought the hosts back into the game.
Read More: IND vs ENG, 2nd Test, Day 3: Gill 104 helps India set England target of 399; visitors 67-1
India roared back with five wickets, as England reached 194/6 at Lunch, hosts need 4 wickets to win
England started with an aggressive mindset and kept on dealing with boundaries from the start of the first session. Axar Patel removed the nightwatchman, Rehan Ahmed (23), but Zak Crawley celebrated his 12th Test fifty. Ollie Pope (23) looked in good touch before Rohit Sharma grabbed a quick reflection catch of Pope.
Joe Root looked to play in a T20 fashion, as he nailed two fours and one six in his short 16-run stay, before becoming the victim of Ravichandran Ashwin. The visitors were taking the game away with some free boundaries, just when Kuldeep Yadav trapped Crawley (73) before the stumps which looked like a very close decision from the third umpire.
And at the stroke of Lunch, Jasprit Bumrah found Jonny Bairstow (26) before the stumps, to put the hosts in the driver's seat. England went to the break at 194/6, with 205 more runs required, while India eyeing four wickets more to square the series.
India showed pure dominance destroying England for 292, squaring the series with a 106-run win
England looked to soak up pressure by defending balls and showed some real fight. However, a lazy running between the wickets from Ben Stokes and a brilliant direct hit resulted in the wicket of the England captain. India smelt victory very closely in that position.
But the guests again fought back, with the eight-wicket stand between Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley, who particularly looked to take on the spinners from the beginning. As the target was coming, the energy shoulder started to drop in the India camp. Finally, Bumrah came back to break the 55-run stand.
Mukesh Kumar then found the outside edge of Shoaib Bashir on a duck as England lost their ninth wicket. Bumrah picked up the last wicket to earn the 106-run victory and square the series 1-1.
Read More: IND vs ENG, 2nd Test, Day 1: Yashasvi Jaiswal only shining light with 179*, India 336-6 at stumps
Statistical highlights from the Day 4 of the India vs England, 2nd Test
Root, with 1004 runs becomes the fifth visiting and second England batter to score 1000+ runs in India.
Ashwin becomes the highest wicket-taker for India, against England in Tests.
Bumrah has dismissed Bairstow five times in Tests at an average of 12.4.
292 is now England’s highest fourth-innings total in India.
Root has been dismissed by Ashwin six times in Tests.
What’s to come
Both teams after a short nine-day break will meet for the third of the five-match Test series on February 15 at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot.
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