India 415 for 7 (Ashwin 47*, Jayant 26*) v England
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Moeen Ali took three quick wickets to pull back India © Associated Press
Moeen Ali revived England’s fortunes in the second Test at Visakhapatnam – but at the same time served as a harbinger of the challenge to come – by claiming three quick wickets in the second hour of the morning to undermine India’s dominant position.
By lunch on the second day, India had slipped from their overnight 317 for 4 to 415 for 7, with R Ashwin marshalling the lower order with 47 not out, albeit he was lucky to survive a drop at slip by Ben Stokes when he had made 17.
However, that reprieve, while coming as something of a surprise – Stokes has one of the safest pairs of hands in the world game – soon turned out to be an opportune error from England’s point of view.
The chance, which had flown sharply to Stokes’ right as Ashwin slashed at a big turner from Moeen, ricocheted off his knee and allowed the batsmen to cross for a single. One ball later, and with Virat Kohli now in his sights, Stokes made amends by snaffling a faster, lower edge to his right to see off India’s main man for 167.
It had been a sedate resumption from Kohli, whose 151 not out had been the mainstay of India’s first-day performance. Facing up to a new ball that was just two overs old at the start of play, he set himself for the long haul as England toiled for penetration in the first hour.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad – seemingly untroubled by the foot complaint that hampered him on the first evening – resumed the attack in the first half hour but, with no swing or seam on offer, the ball was eventually changed by the umpires after six overs. With Zafar Ansari off the field suffering from nausea, Alastair Cook soon turned to the spin of Moeen and Adil Rashid to keep India’s progress in check.
Moeen needed just nine deliveries to make his presence felt, with Stokes celebrating his removal of Kohli with an angry slam of the ball into the turf, and two deliveries after the drinks break, he had doubled his tally for the innings. W Saha played back to a big turner from outside off, was struck on the kneeroll and, after an interminable pause for thought from umpire Dharmasena, he was sent on his way lbw for 3.
Saha was plumb as it happens, but Dharmasena’s indecision possibly helped persuade him to use one of India’s reviews. Two balls later, the reverse was true: up went the umpire’s finger as Ravi Jadeja was pinned on the front pad, and off he trooped for a duck, even though the ball was this time shown to have been missing leg.
At 363 for 7, India were in danger of subsiding meekly, but Ashwin was joined by the debut Jayant Yadav, who showed good temperament as well as a decent technique against Stokes’ short ball, as he reached the break on 26 not out in an eighth-wicket stand of 52.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo