Despite suffering from a broken foot, Rishabh Pant hit a gritty fifty, while England captain Ben Stokes took his first five-wicket haul in eight years to restrict India to 358 in the afternoon session on the second day of the fourth Test between India and England on Thursday.
In response, England raced to 77 for no loss in 14 overs at the tea break with Ben Duckett (43 batting off 41) hitting six boundaries on the off-side against a lacklustre Indian pace attack. Zak Crawley (33 batting off 44) also came up with some crisp hits in his unbeaten stand with Duckett. Debutant Anshul Kamboj could not make an impact in his two short spells, while the seasoned Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj were also not at their best.
The highlight of the session was the half-century by Pant (54 off 75). Pant smashed a slower ball from Jofra Archer for a six between midwicket and square-leg before driving Stokes from the crease for a boundary through cover to complete his half-century and draw a standing ovation from a packed stadium. Stokes had Kamboj caught behind to complete his five-wicket haul, while the innings ended with the dismissal of Jasprit Bumrah.
In the morning session, Pant came out to bat with a fractured foot, while Shardul Thakur also showed a lot of resilience to take India to 321 for six at lunch. Resuming the day at 264 for four, India did well to cross the 300-run mark in overcast conditions which offered plenty of seam and swing to the England pacers, especially Archer, who was lethal in his opening spell.
Stokes got the odd ball to jump from length, creating further challenges for Indian batsmen. Considering the pitch, India would be content with a first innings score of 358. Chris Woakes took the new ball immediately, but it was in the following over from Archer that England got the early breakthrough. The in-form Ravindra Jadeja (20 off 40) was beaten off an Archer delivery which shaped away after landing on the leg-stump to take the outside edge.
With the ball doing all sorts of tricks, Shardul Thakur (41 off 88) dispatched Woakes off the backfoot in the cover region for a fine boundary. Minutes later, Shardul creamed a full ball from Stokes through the cover one ball after getting a snorter from the England captain. Stokes managed to get rid of him eventually by luring him into a drive and getting him caught at gully.
Brief scoreboard at tea: India 1st innings: 358 England 1st innings: Zak Crawley batting 33 Ben Duckett batting 43 Extras: 1 (nb-1) Total: 77/0 in 14 overs Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah 5-2-22-0, Anshul Kamboj 5-0-29-0, Mohammed Siraj 4-0-26-0.
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