Visakhapatnam, February 5: Zak Crawley unleashed a solid counterattack, but the brilliance of India spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav derailed England's solid effort at chasing 399 runs in the second Test, reducing them 194/6 at the end of first session on day four at Visakhapatnam on Monday. At Lunch, England was 194/6, with skipper Ben Stokes (0*) unbeaten.
England started the day four at 67/1, chasing 399 runs to win, with Zak Crawley (29*) and Rehan Ahmed (9*) unbeaten.
England kept going with their aggressive approach as Rehan targetted spinner Axar Patel and Crawley smashed Jasprit Bumrah for two cracking fours.
However, Axar soon swung things in India's way, removing Rehan for 23 in 21 balls, with five fours. England was 95/2. Ollie Pope was next up on the crease. England reached the 100-run mark in 22.1 overs, with a double by Crawley. Crawley and Pope kept punishing bowlers, hitting Axar for a hat-trick of boundaries. Crawley also reached his half-century in 83 balls, with seven fours and a six.
Spinner Ravichandran Ashwin sent the English camp into worries once again, getting Ollie caught by skipper Rohit at slips for 23 and getting the big scalp of Joe Root for 16 in 10 balls. Root played another ugly shot and was caught by Axar. England was 154/4 in 31 overs. Jonny Bairstow was next up on the crease. Crawley was punishing bowlers as usual and along with Bairstow seemed to bring England back on track and towards the 200-run mark.
However, Kuldeep Yadav changed the game, trapping Crawley leg-before wicket for 73 in 132 balls, with eight fours and a six. In the next over, Bairstow was removed for 26 in 36 balls by Bumrah with another lbw. England sunk to 194/6 at the end of the first session.
Earlier, India gained a 398 run lead in their second innings after being bundled out for 255. Shubman Gill roared into form with a classy 104 in 147 balls with 11 fours and two sixes, scoring a fifty-plus score after 12 innings. Contributions from Axar Patel (45 in 84 balls with six fours), Ravichandran Ashwin and Shreyas Iyer (29 runs each) helped India secure a big lead.
Tom Hartley (4/77) and Rehan (3/88) were the pick of the bowlers for England. Led by Jasprit Bumrah's heroics, India had earlier bundled out England for just 253 in their first innings, gaining a 143-run lead. Zak Crawley (76 in 78 balls, with 11 fours and two sixes) did launch an impressive counterattack, but Bumrah (6/45) along with spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3/71) blew away the rest of the English line-up.
India reached a respectable total of 396 runs in their first innings mainly due to the maiden double-hundred of the young Yashasvi Jaiswal (209 in 290 balls, with 19 fours and seven sixes). Knocks from Shubman Gill (34), Rajat Patidar (32), Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel (27 each) provided some help to the left-handed batter.
Brief Scores: India: 396 and 255 (Shubman Gill 104, Axar Patel 45, Tom Hartley 4/77) need to defend 205 more runs against England: 194/6 (Zak Crawley 73, Jonny Bairstow 26, Ravichandran Ashwin 3/42).
