India Bounce Back Against England, Level Series 1-1

VISAKHAPATNAM: Indian bowlers won an engrossing battle against England’s firebrand batting for a series-levelling 106-run victory in the second Test here on Monday, blunting ‘Bazball’ with their resilience in a roller-coaster contest.

England began day four at 67 for one, chasing a record target of 399. They were bowled out for 292 in the extended afternoon session.

The visiting team’s noholds-barred approach, which has largely been successful, did not work on this occasion as India picked up nine wickets over the course of two sessions to bounce back in the five-match series.

The third Test will be played in Rajkot from February 15.

Only Zak Crawley’s (73 off 132 balls) strategy of mixing caution with aggression worked before the collective efforts of Jasprit Bumrah (3/46), R Ashwin (3/71), Axar Patel (1/75) and Kuldeep Yadav (1/60) yielded the desired results for the hosts who were under pressure going into day four.

After James Anderson claimed that India were nervous while batting in the second innings and did not know a safe target to counter ‘Bazball’, England walked the talk on Monday and went ballistic.

They would have been better served taking a cue from Crawley, who saw out an intense morning spell from Bumrah before going for his strokes.

Night-hawk Rehan Ahmed (23) wanted to smash his first ball of the day out of the park while Hyderabad Test hero Ollie Pope (23) and Joe Root (16) were pushing their luck, frequently attempting sweeps and reverse sweeps on a pitch with variable bounce.

The visitors managed to make 127 runs in the opening session but the loss of five wickets effectively sealed their fate.

When skipper Ben Stokes (11 off 29balls) got run out via a brilliant direct hit from Shreyas Iyer post lunch, there was no coming back for England.

But Ben Foakes (36) and Tom Hartley (36) frustrated the visitors with a 55-run partnership for the eighth wicket.

Hartley could have been Ashwin’s landmark 500th wicket but the TV umpire overturned the on-field decision of a catch as the ball had ballooned after hitting the batter’s arm and not the glove.

However, Rohit and Co. were not convinced with the DRS showing umpire’s call for LBW. Since the appeal was only for a catch and not LBW, the umpire’s call for the latter was not considered.