Lunch England 385 for 8 (Buttler 64*, Ball 29*, Ashwin 5-102) v India
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
03:36
Trott: Ashwin has started tossing the ball up very well
Jos Buttler persevered to his sixth Test fifty, a pivotal contribution for England as they went to lunch on the second day at 385 for 8. R Ashwin picked up his second five-wicket haul of the series, and 23rd overall, but England would not be too displeased at the chaos India’s spinners created considering the total they were nearing.
Buttler’s innings was one of two halves. Early on, he looked unsure against spin and a bit eager to step down the track. While he wasn’t always successful with that tactic, he was able to put the times he was beaten behind him very quickly. His one-day style – nudging balls through midwicket, dabbing them behind point and reverse-sweeping them too – came in handy as he batted with the tail. Eventually, he grew assured enough to pick Ashwin’s carrom balls and even manipulate the field to marshall the strike.
Jake Ball, in at No. 10, kept getting better with time, so much that he thumped Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the cover boundary immediately after India took the second new ball in the 121st over. He stole 51 runs off 78 balls with Buttler and pushed England’s total above 350. No team has ever lost at Wankhede going past that mark in the first innings.
That’s because of the danger that lurks in the pitch. Adil Rashid faced one ball from Ravindra Jadeja, meant to dart away, do so sharply enough to beat his outside edge and another, also meant to dart away, hold its line and knock his off stump over as he shouldered arms.
Ashwin had suggested batting on days two and three might be easier, but the early signs pointed the other way. He had Ben Stokes caught behind in the third over of the day, although it stirred some DRS debate because at the time the ball seemed to deviate off the edge, the bat had been touching the ground as well. It was because of this doubt that umpire Bruce Oxenford ruled against the appeal.
Shamshuddin – who continued as stand-in third umpire because Marais Erasmus was required on the field again with Paul Reiffel advised rest after suffering a concussion – overturned the decision. It appeared to be the correct call, though, for there was a visible deflection as ball passed the bat. The only reason it became a talking point was because the evidence that swayed Shamshuddin came from Ultra Edge, which may have picked up the sound of bat hitting ground.
Amid the drama, however, Ashwin had his 47th wicket in 2016, the most by a spinner in India in a calendar year, going past Erapalli Prasanna’s record that had stood since 1969.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo