FEBRUARY 5, 2024
Brief Scorecard: India 396 (Jaiswal 209, Anderson 3-47, Ahmed 3-65) and 225 (Gill 104, Hartley 4-77) beat England 253 (Crawley 76, Bumrah 6-45, Kuldeep 3-71) and 292 (Crawley 73, Bumrah 3-46, Ashwin 3-72) by 106 runs
India defeated England by 106 runs on Day four of the second Test in Visakhapatnam on Monday, with the victory helping the hosts level the series 1-1 following their defeat in Hyderabad. England, looking to chase down a target of 399, were all out for 292 just before scheduled tea time on Day four. England resumed their innings from an overnight score of 67/1 but lost their nightwatchman Rehan Ahmed (23) in the first hour of play after he was struck LBW by Axar Patel.
Ollie Pope walked into bat at number four and despite an aggressive start to his knock where he scored five boundaries, Pope couldn’t capitalise on that start after he was caught by skipper Rohit Sharma at slip courtesy R Ashwin’s bowling.
Joe Root, who had sustained a finger injury while fielding on Sunday, then walked out to bat at number five. Like Pope, Root failed to capitalise on an aggressive start after he was caught by Axar Patel at short third off Ashwin’s bowling, while looking to slog across the line.
Zak Crawley, who scored 76 in the first innings, once again put up a positive display after he got his half century in 83 deliveries on Monday. However, Crawley soon fell to Kuldeep Yadav’s LBW trap at the end of the 42nd over. And for England, matters turned from bad to worse once Bumrah removed Bairstow for 26 in the 43rd over.
England were in a precarious position at 194/6 by this time and it was up to the two Bens — Stokes and Woakes to revive the visitors, but the England skipper was eventually run-out at the strikers’ end following a throw from Shreyas Iyer, who came charging down from short midwicket.
With England in trouble at 220/7, it was then upto Foakes and Tom Hartley to give them some sort of hope in the contest. The two did forge a 55-run stand, but not without a scare. In the 63rd over of the chase, Ashwin seemingly got to his 500th Test wicket after he was taken by Rohit, but Hartley went for a review. Replays showed that the ball deflected from Hartley’s wrist and not the glove. However, that’s not all. The third umpire Paul Reiffel then checked for an LBW, and it turned out to be not out on umpire’s call. Hartley would survive, however, Rohit would then have a chat with on-field umpire Chris Gaffaney regarding the decision. The umpire, though, clarified saying that the out decision was for the catch, while it remained not out on the LBW.
However, Hartley would lose his partner Foakes just a few overs later, who was caught and bowled by Jasprit Bumrah in the 65th over. Once Foakes was dismissed, it never seemed as England had a way out of trouble. Shoaib Bashir was dismissed in the 67th over after being caught by KS Bharat off Mukesh Kumar’s bowling, whereas Bumrah would clean up Tom Hartley with a ripper of a delivery to wrap up the contest.
Earlier, Root and Pope perished while going for their strokes. Root, in particular, would be disappointed with his effort as he danced down the track and went for a wild slog without getting to the pitch of the ball to be caught at short third man, giving Ashwin his 499th wicket.
While Axar Patel found Rehan’s pads with a straighter one, Pope offered a sharp catch to Rohit Sharma at first slip off Ashwin and the Indian skipper made no mistake in pouching it.
Crawley’s play in the first session stood out. He was patient enough to leave balls in Bumrah’s opening spell and when the champion fast bowler did for for a full ball, the England opener was quick to put it away with a straight bat.
His cover and straight drive off Bumrah were the standout strokes of his innings. When Axar was bowling his first spell, India were a tad defensive and had both long off and long on in place for Rehan, who was promoted to bat at number three before stumps on day three. Pope played a sweep, flick and stepped out to Axar in the same over for three boundaries.
Root, who had missed the last two sessions on Sunday due to an injured right little finger, was in full attack mode with his first two scoring shots being reverse sweep for four.
Courtesy: PTI
