Bumrah, Ashwin bowl India to series-levelling win

Jasprit Bumrah’s craft and Ravichandran Ashwin’s guile secured India’s series-levelling victory by 106 runs in the pulsating second Test against England on Monday.

Under Ben Stokes, England have made it a habit of chasing big fourth-innings targets, but scoring 399 against India’s formidable spin attack in conditions that suit their craft was always going to be onerous.

Zak Crawley smashed a belligerent 73 while Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley produced defiant 36s down the order, but England were all out for 292.

“Very, very proud of such a young squad in terms of the Test matches that they’ve played,” India captain Rohit Sharma said.

England were cruising at 95/1 in their pursuit of a big total before Axar Patel removed nightwatchman Rehan Ahmed to trigger a top order collapse.

Ashwin (3/72) then rattled England by dismissing Ollie Pope and Joe Root in successive overs. Pope’s edge stuck in Rohit Sharma’s left hand at slip while Root’s casual charge down the track resulted in a top-edge to Patel at backward point.

An unfazed Crawley batted with the kind of aggression that has become the hallmark of the side under Stokes.

India took a gamble when Kuldeep Yadav’s lbw appeal against Crawley was turned down and challenged it, and were ecstatic after the decision was reversed.

Jonny Bairstow could not convert his start and England were effectively done after Shreyas Iyer ran out Stokes.

Foakes and Hartley refused to throw in the towel, and the mounting frustration prompted Rohit to turn to Bumrah (3/46), his pace spearhead.

Bumrah, whose match haul of nine wickets fetched him the player-of-the-match award, did not let his captain down.

India would be mighty relieved to have levelled the series despite missing three key players. Virat Kohli skipped the first two Tests for personal reasons while KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja missed the match with injuries sustained in the series opener in Hyderabad.

England will fly to Abu Dhabi for a short break before returning for the third Test in Rajkot beginning on February 15.