Published: Dec 09, 2016, 04:44 PM (IST)
Edited: Dec 09, 2016, 05:22 PM (IST)
“If you want to take DRS, do not take Jonny Bairstow’s opinion,” said (not exact words) Nasser Hussain in the commentary box after England‘s first DRS failed. It was not the first time this series that Bairstow thought it was out. In fact, Virat Kohli once defended (with the middle of the bat) the ball on the front foot off Moeen Ali. Bairstow, behind the wickets, appealed for an lbw. Let me leave you with that. Moving on, India trail by 254 at the end of Day Two, in the fourth Test against England, at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
Session one: Advantage India
England ended Day One at 288 for 5, with Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler at the crease. It was yet another sporting wicket, equally helping the batsmen and bowlers. The outfield was lush green. Hence, let us be fair and say it was good enough for the fielders to dive and slide. Stokes has already scored a hundred this series, and Buttler plays for Mumbai Indians in Indian Premier League; therefore, he knows the Wankhede track very well. Ashwin had 4 wickets in his tally and Jadeja one. The stage was set for both the teams to gain advantage.
Full Cricket Scorecard: India vs England 4th Test at Mumbai
India, however, scalped 3 wickets: Ashwin took 1 and Jadeja 2.
Ashwin dismissed Stokes with an absolute beauty: pitched on leg, squared Stokes up and took a thin edge, which travelled straight to Kohli at first-slip.
Jadeja then dismissed Chris Woakes and Adil Rashid for 11 and 4 respectively.
Buttler, on the other hand, kept ticking the scoreboard and reached his fifty, also scoring a 51-run stand with Jake Ball.
England went into lunch at 385 for 8. The session belonged to India.
Session two: Advantage India
England could add only 15 runs after lunch, as the Ashwin-Jadeja pair took a wicket apiece. While Jadeja ended with figures of 4 for 109, Ashwin took his 23rd five-wicket haul.
KL Rahul took leg-spinner Rashid to cleaners, looking to unsettle the English spinner’s rhythm. However, Moeen Ali made full use of the counterattack. He knew Rahul was in a hurry to score runs and thus stuck to the basics. He bowled the-boring-outside-off-stump line. Rahul closed the face of bat instead, exposing the gap between bat and pad. He was clean-bowled for 24.
Murali Vijay, then, dropped the anchor himself and continued the counterattack, hitting two boundaries off Rashid’s over.
India went into tea at 62 for 1, trailing by 338.
Session 3: Advantage India
The Vijay-Cheteshwar Pujara pair added 107 runs for the second wicket, taking India to 146 for 1 at the end of Day Two. For that matter, these two understand each others’ game very well and have formed many a long and partnerships in the past.
Pujara played three delightful cut past point, making it a reminiscence of his stunning 135 at the same venue against the same team in 2012.
Meanwhile, Vijay scored his 15th half-century, inclusive of 6 fours and 2 sixes.
Brief scores:
England 400 (Keaton Jennings 112, Jos Buttler 76; Ravichandran Ashwin 6 for 112) lead by India 146 for 1 (Murali Vijay 70*, Cheteshwar Pujara 47*; Moeen Ali 1 for 44) by 254
(Kaustubh S. Mayekar, a reporter at CricketCountry, played cricket at U-16 level. Like his idol Rahul Dravid, he often shadow-practises cricket shots. His Twitter handle is @kaumedy_)
