2nd Test: India close to victory after taking 5 wickets in the morning session

Indian cricket team. Photo: Sportzpics for BCCI

Zak Crawley made his second successive fifty of the match but India picked up five key wickets in the session to reduce England to 194 for six at lunch on day four and register a series-levelling victory in the second Test here on Monday .

Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Crawley (73) while Jasprit Bumrah put Jonny Bairstow (26) in front around lunchtime to deal a huge blow to England, who still need 205 runs for an unlikely victory.

Crawley was by far the best batsman on display, combining caution and aggression perfectly before being judged lbw off Kuldeep with a close DRS call.

On the sixth ball of his first over, Kuldeep got one coming back from the middle stump. It looked like the ball went down the leg, but DRS showed that the ball hit the middle of the leg stump.

Ben Stokes, who did not encounter a ball, was stranded at half time.

India’s standout bowler in the game, Bumrah, played his heart out during the two-hour session. For someone who has worked in four-over spells, Bumrah bowled one extra in his opening burst before returning towards the end of the session to send Bairstow back.

The variable bounce comes into play, but the pitch remains reasonable for hitting.

While Crawley was measured in his approach, the likes of Root and Pope died going for their shots. Root in particular would have been disappointed with his effort as he danced around the track and played a wild stroke without getting to the ball only to be caught at short third man, giving Ashwin his 499th wicket.

While Axar Patel found Rehan’s pads with a straighter one, Pope offered a sharp catch to Rohit Sharma at Ashwin’s first slip and the Indian skipper made no mistake in pocketing it.

First print: February 5, 2024 | 12:33 pm IST