At the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Monday, India defeated England by 106 runs in the second Test, levelling the five-game series at 1-1. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah each claimed three wickets.
Although England made a valiant attempt to chase a record 399, it was always going to be difficult to find such an incredible target. They demonstrated the benefits of sticking with their ultra-aggressive strategy, but it wasn’t enough as they were dismissed for 292 in 69.2 overs.
Bumrah was the best bowler once more with a spell of 3-46. His spell of 6-45 had given India a crucial 171-run lead in the first innings. With match figures of 9-91, Bumrah concluded the Visakhapatnam Test and tied the record for most Indian fast-bowler against England. With a strong bowling performance in Vizag, Ashwin took 3-72, and he is now one wicket away from 500 Test wickets.
With a decisive series-squaring win at Visakhapatnam, India recovered from a 28-run deficit in Hyderabad thanks to wickets taken by Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mukesh Kumar.
The series’ next matchup is scheduled for February 15 at Rajkot’s SCA Stadium.
England scored 127 runs in the morning session, but they also lost five wickets, including top scorer Zak Crawley for 73, leaving India with a strong lead. The Indian bowlers initially had trouble keeping their lines in tact as Crawley and Rehan Ahmed combined for five boundaries, though the former was wary of a cutting Bumrah.
With a plumb lbw from Axar, Rehan became the first wicket to fall for England on 23. Ollie Pope immediately made an impact with his sweep and reverse-sweep for boundaries off Axar. Crawley danced down the pitch to chip Axar over mid-off for four, and in 83 balls, he reached his second fifty of the game.
Pope was sweeping, staring, and using his feet to take three fours off Axar, all with the determination of his best work. However, his brilliant innings came to an end when he attempted a hard-handed cut but was only able to get a thick outside edge to Rohit Sharma’s left at first slip, who was alert enough to make a one-handed reflex catch.
Batting with a broken right little finger, Joe Root attacked right away, smacking Axar over long-off for six after reverse-sweeping Ashwin twice in his first four balls for boundaries. When he misplayed a slog off Ashwin and the short third man caught the thick top-edge, his frenzied knock came to an end.
Driving Axar through and sweeping off Ashwin for boundaries, Jonny Bairstow looked solid. Bairstow chopped the off-spinner for a boundary as Crawley knocked Ashwin for four. Bairstow showed no mercy when Bumrah made his comeback, using his extra cover drive and punch through point to score two spectacular fours.
However, in the final ten minutes before lunch, the tide turned back in favour of India. Replays reveal that Crawley was caught leg-stump by Kuldeep Yadav, trapping him leg before wicket. When his nip-backer trapped Bairstow lbw, Bumrah ended the session. The review revealed that the ball had clipped the top of Bairstow’s leg stump.
Ben Stokes, the captain, and Ben Foakes, the wicketkeeper, bided their time against the Bumrah-Kuldeep combination for the first twenty minutes of the second session. However, Foakes did not waste any time in taking two boundaries off Bumrah: he edged between the slip cordon and the gully and clipped through mid-wicket.
Kuldeep Yadav gave Stokes a hilarious miscue to hit a boundary, but Shreyas Iyer’s straight strike from short mid-wicket saw the England captain dismissed for 11 off 29 balls. Although Foakes had an inside edge while racing to leg-side, Iyer’s one-handed throw caught Stokes just inches short of his crease due to his hesitancy and careless running between the wickets.
That run-out ended England’s hopes of an unlikely victory and any expectations of a miraculous knock from Stokes. For the eighth wicket, Foakes and Tom Hartley put up a valiant 55-run stand by digging deep. When a bad ball came their way, the pair alternated between defending and hitting boundaries, finishing with six fours and two sixes.
Ben Foakes chipped his slower off-cutter back to Bumrah after he completed a return catch off his own bowling, ending the partnership. When Shoaib Bashir gave wicketkeeper KS Bharat a nicked behind, Mukesh finally had a wicket. India won handily thanks to Bumrah’s casting of Hartley to end the game.
In 69.2 overs, India 396 and 255 defeated England 253 and 292 (with Zach Crawley scoring 73, Tom Hartley scoring 36, Jasprit Bumrah scoring 346, and Ravichandran Ashwin scoring 372) by a margin of 106 runs.
