India complete series-levelling victory against England in 2nd Test inside four days
The Test series will now move to Ahmedabad where the third Test, which will be a day/night affair with pink ball, begins on February 24.
Chennai: Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin predictably completed the annihilation of clueless England batsmen, emphatically bringing India back in contention for the World Test Championship final with a series-levelling 317-run victory in the second Test here on Tuesday.
Debutant Patel made full use of favourable conditions to bag 5 for 60 in 21 overs while Ashwin finished with a match-haul of eight wickets, besides his classy hundred with the bat.
The duo demolished England for a paltry 164 on the fourth day in pursuit of an impossible target of 482, giving India their biggest win over the tourists in terms of runs.
India have now risen to second in the WTC standings and need to at least win one more and draw another in the four-match series to make the cut for the final in June.
After a crushing 227-run defeat in the first Test, Virat Kohli couldn’t have imagined a better comeback going into the crucial Day/Night Test in Ahmedabad in just over a week’s time.
“The conditions were challenging for both sides, but we showed more application with the bat. We didn’t panic out there looking at the turn and bounce, we showed grit, got into the game and scored 600 runs in the game,” an ecstatic Kohli said in the post-match presentation.
Opener Rohit Sharma should come in for special mention considering the start that India needed after first Test disaster. Rohit set the tone and then it was a Test match that Ashwin will remember forever.
Young Rishabh Pant, whose glove work at times invites unnecessary scrutiny, had a field day. He started with a lovely stumping to get rid of Dan Lawrence (26 off 53 balls) off Ashwin as the off spinner enticed Lawrence out of the crease and the ball turned and travelled between the batsman’s legs. Pant was unsighted as he moved down the leg but effected a smart stumping that would make even Wriddhiman Saha happy.
Ben Stokes (8 off 51 balls) scratched around for eight runs before falling to the off-spinner with Kohli accepting the catch at wide second slip. Root waged a lonely battle. He was reprieved at 32 as Mohammed Siraj grassed at deep point off Kuleep Yadav. Axar, who exploited the rough spot, dismissed Ollie Pope (12) who top edged while going for a slog sweep. Ben Foakes, after a memorable match behind the stumps, mis-timed a sweep shot. Root’s two-hour and 13-minute vigil ended with Axar scalping him with a classical left-arm spinner’s dismissal. He landed one successfully on the spot and as the England captain pushed forward, the ball bounced enough and took an edge before flying into slips.
Axar removed Olly Stone to get his maiden five-for in his debut Test match just like his spin bowling partner Ashwin did nearly a decade ago and Narendra Hirwani around 33 years back.
Moeen (43 off 18 balls) entertained himself with three successive sixes. Fittingly it was another smart Pant stumping off Kuldeep that brought curtains down on a highly satisfactory outing for Kohli and company.
Bairstow, Wood to join for Pink ball Test
Chennai: England on Tuesday brought in wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow and pacer Mark Wood to their squad for the day/night Test against India, starting February 24 in Ahmedabad.
England lost the second Test here on Tuesday by 317 runs as India drew level in the four-match series.
The selectors also decided to send spin all-rounder Moeen Ali, who played in the second game, back to England as part of their rotation policy to manage workload of the players.
Bairstow was given rest after the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, where he had scores of 47, 35 not out, 28 and 29.
Wood was also given a break after the series in the island nation where he went wicket-less in the first Test and took three wickets in the second.
“Moeen Ali will return to England for a break while Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood join the squad having been rested for the first two Tests,” the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement.
Squad: Joe Root (C), James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Zak Crawley, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood.
Brief Scores:
India: 329 and 286 all out in 86.5 overs.
England: 134 and 164 in 54.2 overs (Moeen Ali 43, Joe Root 33, D Lawrence 26; Axar Patel 5/60, R Ashwin 3/53).
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