2nd Test: Akash, Siraj Strike As England Left At 72/3 In Mammoth Chase Of 608

After Nitish Kumar Reddy: Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj struck thrice with the new ball as India increased their control on proceedings to leave England at 72/3 at stumps on the fourth day of the second Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at Edgbaston here on Saturday.

England were set a daunting chase of 608 when India declared their second innings on 427/6, with skipper Shubman Gill leading from the front with a majestic 161, after hitting a masterly 269 in the first innings. He was well-supported by K.L. Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Ravindra Jadeja, hitting half-centuries respectively.

Just like how it happened in England’s first innings, Akash and Siraj continued their new ball onslaught to leave England’s top order in tatters. With Harry Brook and Ollie Pope unbeaten on 15 and 24 respectively, England now need 536 more runs to win on Day Five, while India require seven wickets for what would be a fabulous series-levelling victory, provided rain stays away.

Ben Duckett began England’s chase by slicing and flicking Siraj for boundaries, before the pacer had success by tempting Zak Crawley to play a drive and slicing straight to backward point, where sub-fielder B. Sai Sudharsan took the catch as the batter fell for a seven-ball duck.

After India burnt a review on Duckett nicking behind, the opener hit a flurry of boundaries before inside-edging to his stumps off Akash for 25. A brilliant Akash came back to strike by using the wide of the crease angle and getting the ball to nip past Joe Root’s blade and hit the top of his off-stump to dismiss him for six. Pope and Brook hit a couple of boundaries before another dominating day of Test cricket came to a close for India.

Previously, Gill, yet again, stepped up with his elegant strokeplay to hit 13 fours and eight sixes in what was his eighth Test hundred, fifth against England, and third one in his fourth innings as India’s Test captain. With an aggregate of 430 runs, Gill has become the second-highest run-scorer in a single Test match after England’s Graham Gooch (456 runs) and is also the first player to score 200 and 150 in the same Test match.

The final session, though, began with Jadeja signalling a shift in gears by smashing over Shoaib Bashir's head for a straight six on the very first ball he faced. Gill continued to be at his run-making best by smacking Chris Woakes for a six and two fours, before he and Jadeja took a boundary each off Bashir. Jadeja then cut Root away for four through backward point to bring up the second half-century of this game off 94 balls.

After Jadeja swept Gill for four, Gill slog-swept Joe Root for consecutive sixes, before the former cleared the mid-off fielder for another boundary. Gill got his 150 up by executing a slog-sweep off Root to perfection, before Pope lost sight of a top-edge to give him another boundary.

Gill then swung Bashir over midwicket for six, before his attempt to get another maximum resulted in him mistiming back to the bowler, as he walked off to a standing ovation for his knock of 161. After Nitish Kumar Reddy holed out to long-off against Root, Washington Sundar hit the part-timer for a four and six before Gill declared the innings to have a crack at a tired England line-up, as Akash and Siraj yet again enjoyed bowling with the new ball as compared to their counterparts in the hosting side.

After Jadeja swept Gill for four, Gill slog-swept Joe Root for consecutive sixes, before the former cleared the mid-off fielder for another boundary. Gill got his 150 up by executing a slog-sweep off Root to perfection, before Pope lost sight of a top-edge to give him another boundary.

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India 587 and 427/6 dec in 83 overs (Shubman Gill 161, Rishabh Pant 65, KL Rahul 55, Ravindra Jadeja 69 not out; Josh Tongue 2-93, Shoaib Bashir 2-119) lead England 407 and 72/3 in 16 overs (Ben Duckett 25, Harry Brook 24 not out; Akash Deep 2-36, Mohammed Siraj 1-29) by 536 runs

Article Source: IANS