End of innings England 283 and 236 (Root 78, Hameed 59*) lead India 417 by 102 runs
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Jayant Yadav removed Jos Buttler in his first over of the morning © AFP
India were left needing 103 to take a 2-0 lead in the series after firstly the spinners and then Mohammed Shami removed England for 236. However, Haseeb Hameed, batting at No. 8 due to his finger injury, produced a hugely resilient display to end unbeaten on 59 which went to highlight some of the wasteful batting that had pockmarked England’s performance.
Joe Root had helped England erase the 134-run deficit during the morning session, but by then two further wickets had been shipped. When Root departed for 78, sharply held a slip, there were visions of a swift conclusion to the match but Hameed dug in and Chris Woakes played positively to persuade India that the new ball was needed.
Shami made full use of it, rattling Woakes with a short ball which hammered into his helmet and dislodged the stem guard then following up with another pinpoint short delivery which Woakes could only fed behind to the keeper. Two balls later Adil Rashid was also bounced out, hooking to fine leg. It was quicker, more accurate, short bowling than England had produced at any stage – on what remained a reasonably docile surface.
Hameed, batting down the order below Jos Buttler, did not appear in huge discomfort – although needed further painkillers during his stay – which prompted some questions as to why he had not been able to take his normal position opening. It also emerged that he had already undergone an x-ray, which had initially been pencilled in for after the match, with the results awaited from the UK.
It took him 19 balls to get off the mark, he was given a life on 6 when Parthiv Patel could not gather a tough chance off R Ashwin, and he needed 111 deliveries to score his first boundary, which came with a slog-sweep against Ashwin. When he was joined by last-man James Anderson he had 23 off 127 balls but then showed the other side to his game. He took on Shami and, when he was somewhat surprisingly replaced, both Aswhin and Ravindra Jadeja. His fifty came up off 147 deliveries with a slog-sweep that cleared deep midwicket but he was left stranded when Anderson was slow to come back for a second run.
It did not take long for India to make their first breakthrough when nightwatchman Gareth Batty propped forward at Jadeja’s second ball of the day and was given lbw. Root and Buttler responded with intent: Buttler came down the pitch to loft Jadeja over long-off and Root scampered hard between the wickets. For a short period it was reminiscent of a one-day partnership and Virat Kohli relaxed his attacking fields a little.
However, when a batsman such as Buttler is keen to dominate – which was not without merit – the scouts in the deep become wicket-taking catchers and so it proved when Buttler miscued Jayant Yadav to deep midwicket.
Hameed was never going to opt for the Buttler route so it was left to Root to do the majority of the run-scoring while he bedded in. Shami went short at him for a brief period, to try and target the injured hand, but with the old ball the pacemen’s main threat continued to be reverse swing with both Shami and Umesh Yadav finding prodigious movement on occasions.
Root’s half-century, his second-slowest in Test cricket, was brought up with his third boundary and he then became engaged in a tussle with Ashwin. A cover drive and strong sweep when Root’s way, but attempting another sweep he was fortunate to escape as it looped over the wicketkeeper. It was another bowling change which ended his resistance – another call that worked for Kohli in this match – when Root drove at a delivery from Jadeja which gripped enough to take the edge. Catching has been fallible from both sides in this match, but Rahane’s snaffle to his left was superb.
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo