India vs England 2nd Test, Day 4 Highlights: The match was being held in Chennai.India vs England 2nd Test, Day 4 Highlights: Exploiting the spin-friendly conditions, a dominant India thumped England by 317 runs in the second Test to level the four-match series 1-1, on Tuesday.
India bundled out England for 164 in their second innings with more than four sessions to spare in the match.
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The victory was crucial for India in the context of World Test Championship as they need to win the series at least with a 2-1 margin or better to make the cut for the title clash against New Zealand.
India had lost the opening Test at the same venue by a massive 227-run margin.
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Ravichandran Ashwin has been declared the Player of the Match. "I really had to express myself. [In Tamil] As an eight year old I have come here on these very stands to watch cricket. I have played four Test matches here and easily this is the most special," he says.
"It was a good experience, to get a five-wicket haul on debut is special. As Kuldeep said, there was much happening on the pitch. It was about varying your speed and I just kept doing it. Forced the batsman to make mistakes. On the first day itself, it was turning. So, we bowled tight lines and got the rewards."
Stumped!! Moeen Ali is gone for 43(18) and Kuldeep Yadav gets the last wicket. India win by 317 runs, which means this is also India's biggest win against England (in terms of runs). India's spinners take all 10 wickets as England are bowled out for 164. The series level at 1-1 with two Tests to play. Also, India are back in the top two of the World Test Championship standings.
Moeen Ali is not giving up without a fight! Slams three back to back sixes of Axar Patel. Seems like Ali is just auditioning for upcoming IPL Auctions.
Lbw!! Stone reviews an LBW: Another straight delivery on this minefield of a pitch, and another batsman trapped in front after playing all around it. Stone's looked to sweep this, missed it big time to get struck on the back thigh. 5 wickets for Axar PatelWhat a start to Axar Patel's Test career!
Spinners taking five-fer on Test debut for India
5/64 VV Kumar v Pak Delhi 1960/61
6/103 D Doshi v Aus Chennai 1979/80
8/61 & 8/75 N Hirwani v WI Chennai 1987/88
5/71 Amit Mishra v Aus Mohali 2008/09
6/47 R Ashwin v WI Delhi 2011/12
5/41 AXAR PATEL v Eng Chennai 2020/21 *
Axar Patel strikes in the second over after lunch. Removes the England captain Joe Root for 33. For the first time in eight Tests in India, Joe Root has failed to score a half-century or more in an innings. Just 2 more wickets needed.
Kuldeep Yadav gets a wicket at last as Ben Foakes =2(9) sweeps straight into the hands of Axar Patel at mid-wicket. The visitors have lost 4 wickets in the session. ENG- 116/7 and need more 366 runs to win. India need 3 wickets to level the series 1-1.
Joe Root doesn't connect his reverse sweep well and Siraj drops a sitter at backward point and denies Yadav a wicket. You gotta feel for Kuldeep, one rare chance for a wicket for him and the catch is dropped !! You can clearly see he isn't as effective as other spinners in the game, with his pace on this wicket he can't do much. Score after 47 overs, ENG- 116/6
Ollie Pope gets a top-edge on the sweep and is caught by Ishant Sharma. Interestingly, every time an England batsman gets out, it seems from their reaction that something unfair is happening to them. Saw it with Burns, Stokes, and now Pope. Score after 44 overs
ENG- 111/6
Just as we were saying. Kuldeep Yadav finally gets the ball after 42 overs on a turning track. He badly needs a wicket to get some kind of confidence.
There is a lot of chatter on social media on the absence of Kuldeep Yadav. "Kuldeep doesn't get a chance to play for so long and when he does, he barely gets to bowl? Absolutely ridiculous! No reason, logic can justify such treatment," writes Ayush on Twitter. Hmmm.. lets see if he gets a long spell today
England are 5 down, but there's still Ben Foakes and Moeen Ali yet to come, they've depth in their batting line-up but they sure don't know how to play on spinning tracks.'
Ravichandran Ashwin to Ben Stokes in Test cricket:
488 balls
392 dots
178 runs
10 wickets
Ben Stokes’ dismissal was Ashwin’s 30th wicket at Chepauk, Chennai in Tests - the joint most no. of wickets that he has taken at any venue in Tests alongside Wankhede, Mumbai.
Second over after the drinks break and Stokes has to depart. Ashwin has another as an inside edge pops up off Stokes' pad and into the hands of Kohli at slip. ENG- 90/5, India five wickets away now.
Ashwin to Stokes, and the off-spinning delivery turns sharply and there is a nasty bounce as it goes from outside leg and to the off-stump. Stokes is fortunate to get an edge and a smart take by Pant. Things are going to difficult from here.
Ishant Sharma gets one to bend in and then tail away from the batsman. These are warning signals for the opposition. Score after 35 overs, ENG- 88/4.Ben Stokes and Joe Root are handling it well but they are a long way away from the target. India needs a wicket.
Axar is on debut and has been very impressive with his accuracy and the revs he gets on the ball, that is no mean feat, Here's to him having a long Test career. Meanwhile, Root gets down on one leg and sweeps it towards backward square leg. ENG- 88/4, need 394 runs
Shubman Gill sustained a blow on his left forearm while fielding on Day 3 of the 2nd Test. He has been taken for a precautionary scan. The BCCI Medical Team is assessing him. He won't be fielding today.
First ball, Ashwin gets Lawrence out. Surely discussed wicket. Before the ball, Ashwin went and spoke to Pant. Ashwin can’t put a foot wrong. Another brilliant bit of keeping, this time from Rishabh Pant. The ball went through the legs of Dan Lawrence. He is gone for 26. ENG- 66/4
It is going to be an exciting day of Test Cricket. Real grit and determination needed from England to keep going and make India dig deep. As for India just apply real pressure with tough bowling and force England to make a mistake! Score after 25 overs, ENG- 66/3
Joe Root and Dan Lawrence are out in the middle. Mohammed Siraj to start the proceedings on Day 4 and three runs off the first over. Score after 20 overs, ENG- 56/3
Mark Butcher and Murali Kartik: 'The top has basically gone, there are pebbles and dust along everywhere. No wonder's, Ashwin's hundred was a masterclass on how to play on such wickets There is plenty in this wicket for Axar Patel to exploit as well. If the ball lands on those areas, it will spin, it does land on harder areas, it's going to slide - that's how much difficult batting will be against him. Can England delay the inevitable?'
India seven wickets away from series-leveling win in Chennai
Earlier, Ashwin (106) scored his fifth test century on Monday. Having picked up a 29th five-wicket haul in England's first innings, it meant 34-year-old India all-rounder Ashwin registered a century and bagged five wickets in an innings in the same test for the third time in his career. He moves ahead of Garfield Sobers (West Indies), Shakib al Hasan (Bangladesh) and Jacques Kallis (South Africa) on the all-time list and now trails only England’s Ian Botham, who achieved the feat five times.
“I have been practising with batting coach Vikram Rathour and would love to credit him with how my batting has come through over the last four or five matches," Ashwin said. "I played a lot of sweep shots today and we had a plan against Jack Leach. I am thankful the plan paid off.”
England, facing a mammoth task in the final innings of the match, lost its first wicket when Patel trapped Dominic Sibley lbw for three. Burns and Dan Lawrence put on 32 for the second wicket before Ashwin had Burns caught at slip as he played against the turn. Six balls later, Patel dismissed nightwatchman Leach for a duck.
Joe Root came out to bat and survived a huge lbw shout before the close of play. In a strange DRS call, the ball seemed to be hitting the stumps but the in-form England captain survived owing to the umpire’s on-field, not-out decision. At stumps, Lawrence was unbeaten on 19 while Root was two not out.
Local hero Ravichandran Ashwin delivered a series of body blows to England as the tourists struggled to 53/3 at stumps on day three of the second test against India on Monday. With England needing an unlikely 482 for victory, Ashwin followed up his century with the bat by dismissing Rory Burns for 25 while fellow spinner Axar Patel claimed 2/15.