COMMENTARY
Domination 101 from India as Kohli and Co. sweep all three sessions on day 2. England did well to restrict the Indian innings to 329 early on in the day but soon fell flat on a challenging pitch, losing four wickets before lunch.
A Ravichandran Ashwin masterclass was to follow as the English batsmen largely pre-empted it to be a rank turner. Ben Foakes held fort with a dogged, methodical approach against the Indian spinners as wickets fell like ninepins. Ashwin's 5/43 and debutant Axar Patel's impressive 2/40 including the wicket of skipper Joe Root pushed England down the barrel.
India's second innings began in typical flair as Rohit and Gill provided a schooling for the English batsmen to see off some fine spells from the spinners. India, with its 249-run lead would eye to inflict a massive defeat for England as it would aim to pile on the runs tomorrow. All in good spirit ahead of the Pink Ball Test.
India 54/1 after 18 overs: STUMPS. England keeps three men close in on the off-side for Rohit and Pujara. -Leach follows a leg-stump and undoes the field as Pujara finishes the day with a solid block.
India 53/1 after 17 overs: Amidst all the chaos out there, Ali and Leach have put a bar on the scoring. Rohit has been challenged with some close shaves. Rohit and Pujara now gear up to see off the final over of the day from Jack Leach.
India 52/1 after 14 overs: India moves past 50 and it has come after another controversial call from the third umpire. Leach hits Rohit's pads after he steps out with the bat lining behind the pad in defense outside the off-stump. England opts for a review after the on-field umpire's call adjudges Rohit to have offered a short, making the impact outside-off.
Root has a slight argument with Virender Sharma and shares a nod of disbelief. Clearly, a poor decision from the third-umpire.
India 46/1 after 12 overs: Leach to Gill. OUT! Sharp drift in for Leach and the ball hits plumb on Gill's pads. Rohit prompts that the ball may have slid down leg and Gill goes for the review. The referral shows perfect three reds umpire Nitin Menon has got it right. Gill departs after a fine start. Pujara walks out to bat after not taking the field for India during England's innings. Shubman Gill lbw b Leach 14 (28b 0x4 1x6)
Uh, oh.
India 37/0 after 9 overs: Rohit on thin ice! Ali gets the ball to drift and turn massively and Foakes misses the stumping! Rohit steps out to smash the ball over long-on and misses the loopy delivery altogether and Foakes who was a livewire behind the wickets in the first innings has lost two chances in three overs.
India 36/0 after 8 overs: Rohit survives! Rohit slashes Leach towards point and sets on in the run and Gill precisely sends him back. Stokes rallies in a rough high throw to Foakes who is late by a second to dislodge the bails. Rohit has a nervy over as Leach induces the edge twice.
India 31/0 after 6 overs: Rohit continues his fine touch. He has aced the sweep to fine affect and chips in with another boundary through fine leg. Ali straightens one and the ball beats Rohit and Foakes to the boundary. Gill at the other hand, seems to be a little doubtful about his defense against spin and has taken the aggressive route early on.
Moeen Ali replaces Olly Stone.
India 10/0 after 3 overs: And the Hitman pulls in style! All the time in the world for Rohit who dismisses the short ball from his presence with disdain for a massive six. Stone learns his lesson the hard way: 'do not ball short to Rohit'.
Jack Leach shares the new ball.
India 2/0 after 1 over: Rohit opens his account with a nonchalant flick down to deep square leg. Broad has a lean start as he draws it down often to the leg stump.
Right, the Indian innings is underway! In walks Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill while England takes the field. Stuart Broad up with the new ball.
England 134 all out after 59.5 overs: Ashwin cleans up Broad. 29th fifer in Test cricket as he equals Glenn McGrath. A full delivery and Broad makes the mistake of going for the sweep. England's misery has a temporary end as it jumps out of the quagmire pitch for a while. India felt completely at 'home' with the spinners in the game from ball one and its talisman Ashwin and debutant Axar Patel have risen to the occassion.
Even as faint cries about the nature of the pitch are looming, England's wicketkeeper Ben Foakes have negated the views with an unbeaten innings of 42 off 107 balls with pure application. As Rohit and Gill pad up to return out for India, the home side will be in complete control of this Test match as merely another 100 runs would be curtains for England if its 195-run lead isn't already!
England 131/9 after 59 overs: Ishant to Leach. OUT! And another sensational one-handed catch from Superman Pant! Ishant finds the edge thrice in the over and vents out some frustration before he returns with a superb delivery to find Leach's edge. A gentle ball outside the off-stump and the edge teems sharply away but not enough to beat invincible Pant. Pant lunges once again to his left and holds onto a classic catch. He goes one up from that catch to dismiss Pope! Jack Leach c †Pant b I Sharma 5 (34b 1x4 0x6)
Ishant Sharma returns to the attack.
England 123/8 after 57 overs: Leach continues to ally Foakes with a positive stride against the spinners. Perhaps, first-hand knowledge of the trade has allowed him to fare much better than most of the English top-order today.
England 114/8 after 54 overs: Foakes continues through his dogged work at the crease while Leach has shown signs of taking a hit when presented as he lofts Ashwin straight down the ground for a boundary. England totters towards the follow-on mark which is still 15 away.
England 106/8 after 51 overs: Axar is going through his overs in some manic pace. The line and precision has been absolutely spot-on and Foakes has seemed to be the only comfortable batsman against the debutant.
Leach and Foakes resume the innings. Ashwin proceeds to complete his over.
Welcome back, folks. We head into the final session for the day.
In case you were wondering about the follow-on!
England 106/8 after 48.2 overs: OUT! Ashwin picks his fourth. Ashwin sends in a slower, flighted delivery to new man Olly Stone who pushes hard at the ball and edges it straight to Rohit at short midwicket. And the teams head into Tea. India continues its rollicking day on the field with another season of outright domination. Olly Stone c RG Sharma b Ashwin 1 (4b 0x4 0x6)
England 106/7 after 48 overs: OUT! Edged and taken by Rahane! Axar continues to bowl from around the stumps and the first ball of his ball floats in straight. Ali rocks back to defend but manages to wedge in a faint touch that carries to Rahane at the slips after rebounding from Rishabh Pant. Moeen Ali c Rahane b Patel 6 (30b 1x4 0x6)
Axar replaces Siraj
England 98/6 after 46 overs: India loses all three reviews. Ashwin has one turn sharply to hit Foakes high on his pads. He continues his adamant plea to Kohli even as Pant suggests from that the ball has the missed the leg-stump. Kohli goes for it and the reviews suggest that Pant was spot-on. The match has completely turned into a spotlight for India'ss intricacies at the moment.
R Ashwin replaces Kuldeep Yadav
England 97/6 after 45 overs: The btsmen have played out Kuldeep well. The chinaman kept bowling slower through the air and failed to produce enough drift to surprise Foakes and Ali. England is reeling towards the 100-run mark and the follow-on mark still feels so far away.
England 88/6 after 42 overs: Foakes and Ali continue to play the surviving game and one wonders if that's the right approach given the quagmire that England has gotten itself into. That being said, Foakes has looked at ease while tackling India's spinners.
England 87/6 after 39 overs: Siraj into the attack and OUT! Siraj starts with a delivery sliding down the legside and Pope nudges it slightly down the legside. Rishabh Pant has lunged onto the searing delivery to complete a manic one-handed catch! A full-length dive to his left and gloves it in a sensational bit of reflex and Siraj has a Test wicket off his first ball in India! Chepauk erupts in joy and the roars of Rishabh Pant are raising the roof. Ollie Pope c †Pant b Mohammed Siraj 22 (57b 1x4 0x6)
The whistles are out!
England 82/5 after 37 overs: Foakes and Pope have played out this phase with excellent tactics to match Axar's guile and Kuldeep's extra-drift. The pair have used their feet well to get to the line of the ball and have looked for conventional ways to negate the spinners as opposed to the sweep.
England 77/5 after 34 overs: Massive drift and turn for Kuldeep in his first over. Kuldeep rushes in one and has Pope completely worked out. A confidence-boosting over on return for the chinaman.
And finally Kuldeep Yadav has the ball in whites after 2 years.
England 66/5 after 30 overs: Foakes and Pope are applying themselves well against Ashwin and Axar. Axar continues with his probing lines to worry the batsmen but the duo have somehow found themselves still at the crease! Kohli went for a review off Axar that seemed to have missed the leg-stump after hitting Pope's pads. India could give the bowling pair a break by bringing in Kuldeep for his first spell.
Kohli continues to egg on the crowd to raise the noise!
England 62/5 after 27 overs: Ashwin and Axar are zipping through the overs and the pitch gets challenging by the minute. Pope has done well so far to stay back in the crease and tackle the spin late.
Phenomenal Ash
England 53/5 after 24 overs: Ashwin to Stokes. OUT! A beauty from Ash! A phenomenal piece from Ashwin as he pitches it between middle and leg and gets to drift it away sharply to clip the stumps. Stokes goes down the straight line and misses it completely as the ball zaps the top of off! Ninth time Ash has had the wood over Stokes in Test cricket and that would also be his 350th wicket in India across formats!Ben Stokes b Ashwin 18 (34b 1x4 0x6) SR: 52.94
England 51/4 after 22 overs: England stretches past 50. Even with wickets falling in a heap, Stokes has held up well at one end and has looked comfortable by the minute against Ashwin. He has looked more vulnerable to Axar who has attacked the stumps with fine and accurate lengths.
England 42/4 after 19 overs: Axar troubles Pope! The left-armer sticks to a stiff in as he brings in the ball that turns away from the dust. Pope has stayed back in the crease unlike Lawrence who tried to get away by employing the sweep.
And Warnie has his say on why the sweep wouldn't help you for long here.
Axar Patel takes the ball. Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope resume the England innings.
We are back for the second session!
Day 2, Session 1: Our correspondent Ayan Acharya updates from Chepauk -
England 39/4 after 18 overs: OUT! Ashwin dismisses Lawrence off the last ball before Lunch.
A typical dust-bowl delivery from Ashwin as it pitches in line with the stumps and turns into Lawrence. All the dogged work has been undone with Lawrence pressing forward and chipping it straight to short leg as
England loses four before lunch. Pure domination from India here and it is getting worse by the minute for the visitor.
England 38/3 after 16 overs: India loses a review. Ashwin pesters Kohli for a review after he turns just a little to hit Stokes' back-pad. Ashwin also brings up
a reference of his 2nd innings dismissal in Mohali in 2016 to get Kohli to sign for the review! The review hints the ball missing the off-stump by a good few inches and Kohli moves back to his mark with a vacant expression.
England 34/3 after 14 overs:
Lawrence has grinded hard to get a start. Ashwin and Axar have made life hard for him but he has not bogged down. Stokes is playing on the edge as he is wary of the threat that Ashwin brings on to him. The offie has had the wood over him
eight times in Test cricket.
England 24/3 after 11 overs: Axar to Root. OUT!!
Root's go-to shot in the series has cast his downfall this time.
Axar gets his first Test wicket and it's the England skipper. Axar darts one in that turns late away from Root who attempted an early sweep. Root top-edges it and the ball lobs straight to Ashwin at short fine leg. India is well and truly on top here with England put under pressure for the first time in the series!
Joe Root c Ashwin b Patel 6 (12b 0x4 0x6)
Axar Patel replaces Ishant Sharma.
England 17/2 after 8 overs: Ashwin to Sibley. OUT!
Loud appeal from the Indians and they go for the review. Sibley has already begun the long walk back to the crease. Ashwin slides in from around the wicket as Sibley lowers down to his feet for the sweep. The ball bounces a bit and hits his pads and brushes his bat before finding Kohli at leg-slip. Massive jolt for England as Sibley looked in fine touch up till that moment.
Dom Sibley c Kohli b Ashwin 16 (25b 3x4 0x6)
Kohli and Pant have a dig at Sibley from behind the stumps.
England 16/1 after 7 overs: England feels the heat early on with the runs trickling down. Ishant is having a real run in to the batsmen and Ashwin has troubled Lawrence at one end. Lawrence is yet to get off the mark after 15 deliveries.
England 7/1 after 4 overs: Ashwin has Lawrence in a fix. Lawrence at the moment is attempting to sweep that comes his way to negate a leg-before for Ashwin. Certainly not a tactic that would help him for long on this pitch. Sibley seems to continue his fine touch at one end. The wrists have come down to meet the ball well to put off the loose deliveries from Ishant.
Ashwin takes the new ball from the other end.
England 0/1 after 1 over: Ishant to Burns. OUT! What a start for India! Burns is out for a duck. Ishant moves the ball away from the left-hander first up and has the third ball tailing in sharply. The ball stands up to surprise Burns and has it wrapped on his pads. The umpire has a long thought before raising his finger. Burns goes for the review but the ball seems to have stood just in line to hit the leg-stump. Ishant is on fire and the new man Dan Lawrence is peppered with some sensational deliveries outside the off-stump. Rory Burns lbw b Sharma 0
India walks out to the middle followed by the England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley. Ishant Sharma takes the new ball. Wouldn't be surprising if Kohli got on with Ashwin straightaway from the other end.
India would be pleased with its score on this pitch and it is all the more visible on Virat Kohli while the English side recedes to the dressing room. Kohli is all up and ready to take the field and unleash his spin attack on this pitch. The Indians have commanded this position thanks to a bohemian knock from Rohit. The 161 under the gruelling conditions will have its value rise through the roof as we dig deep into this Test match and probably the series itself.
India 329 all out after 95.5: OUT! Stone wraps up the Indian innings. Another double-wicket over as England has done well to work through India's tail swiftly. Stone pitches it short and has Kuldeep in a trap and he edges straight to Ben Foakes. Siraj walks in next and slashes hard at Stone's wide delivery. Stone follows up with another short delivery and Siraj attempts to cut over the slips but finds a faint edge straight to Foakes once again who does no wrong. Rishabh Pant remains stranded at the other end on an unbeaten 58!
Olly Stone into the attack.
India 324/8 after 95 overs: Kuldeep deals with Root comfortably. Plays out an entire over with some fine defense. Pant at the other end is prepping to smoke anything in his arc and Moeen Ali has done well to keep him within sights.
India 317/8 after 92 overs: 6th Test match 50 for RISHABH PANT! He reaches it with some flair as he lashes Moeen Ali down the ground for two blistering boundaries to race past the 40s. India will want more of this from Pant to cushion itself on this difficult wicket to put England in troubled waters.
India 308/8 after 91 overs: Pant goes for the biggie.
Root seemed to have put Pant under check with his first three balls turning just that bit to push Pant back into the crease. He then comes down in the ground in typical grandeur and launches a massive six over long-on. Kuldeep sees off the final two ball and Pant will regain the strike. Watch out!
Root replaces Leach after one over!
India 301/8 after 90 overs: OUT! Moeen has two in his first over! Excellent from Ben Foakes behind the stumps to dismiss Axar. Dream start for Moeen Ali as he gets enough turn to skip past Axar who presses forward. Foakes collects the ball and stumps it in a snap - a Dhoni-esque glovework at Chepauk and Axar is short of the crease. Ishant, the new man has a short stay as he chips a low full toss straight to short cover. Axar Patel st †Foakes b Ali 5 (31m 14b 1x4 0x6), Ishant Sharma c Burns b Ali 0 (2b 0x4 0x6)
India 300/6 after 89 overs: A brilliant start from Leach with the ball. Sends in a couple of tempting deliveries to Axar who barely manages to keep out. Not much turn after the rollers have done their bit for the first session.
Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel walk out for India. Jack Leach takes the ball for England. Will be interesting to see how Pant goes about the first sesson. Axar will certainly love to have a look in and play a supportive role.
All set for Day 2!
Some positive signs on a larger context for India ahead of day's play. Hardik Pandya is back to his bowling routine in full tilt under the watchful eyes of Bharat Arun . Time to Think Pink?
Have the Super Sunday feels settled in? India sniffs a crack in England's confidence and Kohli's men will aim to capitalise on a 'proper' Chennai track to resume its bid for the World Test Championship final.
A feisty Valentines prediction from Warnie!
08:35 am: Our correspondent Ayan Acharya updates from Chepauk:Head coach Ravi Shastri, bowling coach Bharat Arun and batting coach Vikram Rathour inspecting the cracks. Meanwhile, Joe Root is getting a feel of the wicket. If England are to pose a challenge, he'll be the key.
08:30 am: An hour away for action to resume. A little shade before a tough day's play.
08:05 am: To each their own
Numbers Game - Day 1
Rohit brilliance stomps England
Ajinkya breaks the jinx
Rahane became the
first Indian player to complete 1000 runs in the World Test Championshi. Rahane has 1051 runs at an average of 47.77 with 3 centuries and 6 half-centuries to his name in the WTC.
Kohli stumped by Ali puzzle
Virat Kohli got out for a duck to a spinner for the first time in his cricketing career across Internationals, First-Class, List-A and T20s! Moeen Ali dismissed Virat for a five-ball duck on Day 1.
Review - Day 1
In a fine start to its bid to return to winning ways, India dominated proceedings by finishing day 1 of the second Test at 300/6.
On a dust bowl pitch that was certainly challenging for the batsmen, it was none other than Rohit Sharma who stood head and shoulders above the rest. Rohit went out to bat with questions hanging over his form and the Indian opener returned to the dugout placing the connoisseurs and the Chepauk crowd in a state of ecstacy.
As the host lost Shubman Gill (0), Cheteshwar Pujara (18) and Virat Kohli (0) early, Rohit was joined by vice captain Ajinkya Rahane, another man under pressure to delivery. The duo shared a crucial 162-run stand with Rohit smashing an authoritative 161 and Rahane working his way through a calm 67. The senior batsmen put India in firm control before both of them gave away their wickets in rather wry fashion.
England's spinners Jack Leach and Moeen Ali had their share of magical moments on this pitch but lacked consistency on a pitch that provided good assistance. Ali's corker to castle Virat Kohli being its prime example. The offie was to brunt a barrage of sweep shot masterclass from Rohit and Rahane that damaged his eventual figures.
England crawled back with a flurry of wickets in the final session to hold India, but with the Rohit touch on Saturday, the host can now target a challenging 350 with four wickets in hand.
WATCH: CD Gopinath, the only surviving member of India's first-ever Test win in 1952 against England in Chennai, relives the historic moment.
What they said
“When you play on turning pitches, you have got to be proactive. You cannot be reactive. We wanted to make sure we used our feet a lot more and made sure we swept the ball,” RohitSharma on employing the sweep shot throughout his innings.
“This pitch is a bit drier and spinning. But as you saw with Rohit and Rahane, once you get a partnership going and with an older ball, it gets easier. We have to believe we can do the same thing when we bat,”
Jack Leach on England's gameplan for its innings.
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India XI: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj
England XI: Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Dan Lawrence, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes (wk), Moeen Ali, Olly Stone, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach
Toss: India won the Toss and elected to bat first
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