England was dealt with a reality check and its methods a first pushback on Indian shores as the host squared the five-match series 1-1 with a 106–run win in the second Test at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Monday.
In England’s 399-run chase, that ‘Bazball’ aspired to overhaul in 60 to 70 overs, it was Zak Crawley’s conventional 132-ball 73 that was the only noteworthy bit of defiance that challenged India.
Moreover, England didn’t go down swinging by any stretch of the imagination as captain Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes soaked in the pressure of losing five wickets in the morning session with a stodgy alliance of 26 off 60 balls for the seventh wicket.
That stand ended in a bit of irony too, as Stokes was caught short of his crease at the striker’s end with Shreyas Iyer’s instantaneous pick-up-and-throw at square-leg ushering in the tail.
With Foakes and Tom Hartley providing a 55-run resistance, England clung on longer than most would have thought. But Jasprit Bumrah’s return to the attack had Foakes chipping a catch back to the bowler off a slower delivery, and from there on, it was a mere formality.
Mukesh Kumar got a wicket as consolation for a poor outing, while the crowd favourite Bumrah fittingly uprooted Hartley’s off-stump to draw curtains on England.
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Earlier, the gripping contest between Bumrah and Crawley, spilling over from Sunday, gave a sense that England would make a fist of it. Bumrah, egged on by a raucous crowd, continued to probe away outside the right-hander’s off-stump and got the odd delivery to seam in from back-of-a-length. Crawley refrained from flirting with danger, played only when compelled, and played out a maiden over to begin the day’s proceedings.
But someone had to blink, and Bumrah did, pitching the ball up outside off to invite the drive, and Crawley creamed it through the cover region. When Bumrah attacked the stumps, he was too straight, and Crawley cashed in with a straight drive and backfoot flick through midwicket for boundaries.
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At the other end, Rehan Ahmed, who looked to loft the ball over mid-on first thing in the morning, was living up to what was expected of him – swing for the fences. He found some success – carting Axar Patel for two fours in an over – but was trapped in front of the stumps while playing off the backfoot as the left-arm spinner got an arm-ball to skid through.
India’s Ravichandran Ashwin in action. | Photo Credit: K.R. Deepak/The Hindu
Ollie Pope drove the first ball he faced to the cover boundary and brought out the reverse sweep for his second four. He and Crawley took a toll on Axar with three fours in an over, the first of which gave Crawley his 83-ball 50.
Pope gave Axar the charge with conviction during his brief stay at the crease but played Ravichandran Ashwin off the wrong foot to a delivery going across him and got an outside edge that Rohit Sharma caught reflexively.
Joe Root made no mystery of his approach to the chase, miscuing a reverse sweep off the first ball he faced and then getting a top edge playing the same shot for his first boundary.
He stepped out to launch Axar for a six but played a shot too many against Ashwin, who had him caught at backward point looking to clear the long-on boundary.
AS IT HAPPENED | MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Just as Crawley and Jonny Bairstow gave England some stability with a 40-run stand, Kuldeep Yadav struck in his first over of the day. He got the ball to turn and skid through, leaving Crawley marooned in his crease. The DRS showed the ball was hitting leg-stump, and the on-field decision was overturned.
At the stroke of lunch, another review went India’s way when Bairstow missed Bumrah’s delivery, which came in sharply. The ball was clipping leg stump, and the on-field decision was vindicated.
At that stage, with six wickets down and more than 200 runs to get, the match was going only one way.
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