England storm their way back into the third Test thanks to Ben Duckett’s blistering knock of 133 not out.
India began Day Two 326-5 with Ravindra Jadeja unbeaten on 110, and Night-Watchman Kuldeep Yadav at the crease. They were looking to push the score towards 400 and beyond, England were looking to restrict them to below that score.
They got off to the perfect start when Anderson removed Yadav for four at 331-6.
Jadeja’s innings of 112 was ended by Joe Root on 331-7.
Ravichandran Ashwin played some nice shots.
And Dhruv Jurel cashed in at the other end.
They put on 50 in 130 balls.
When India reached 388-7 at Lunch, they were hoping that Jurel and Ashwin could push sthe score beyond 410. England knew that one wicket would lead them into the tail.
Jurel got a life on 32, when he was dropped by Ollie Pope after Lunch.
Meanwhile Ashwin picked up where he left before Lunch.
Jurel got another life on 32 as he was dropped by the England Captain at Leg Slip, with india 401-7.
And the Indian Wicket-keeper-batsman punished the tourists with a lusty blow.
But Rehan Ahmed provided the breakthrough by getting Ashwin for 37, at 408-8.
Jurel continued to impress on his debut.
But his innings of 46 was ended by Rehan on 415-9.
Jasprit Bumrah’s cameo of 26 from 28, looked to be lifting India’s total toward 450.
But Mark Wood ended the host’s first innings at 445.
This looked a decent first innings score for the host, particularly having been 33-3 at the star of Day One, although some may argue that they could have possibly tried to bat England out of the game, by getting to a score of 500+
England also began their innings on 5-0, as Ashwin was penalised for running on the pitch.
Duckett got England’s first inning off to a flyer, as they reached 31-0 at Tea.
The Left-handed opener began dominating India’s bowlers after tea.
And he brought up his and Zax Crawley’s 50 partnership with a trademark reverse-sweep.
Before reaching 50 in 39 balls.
Even though Crawley did not have much of the strike, he was looking confident in the middle.
Meanwhile, Duckett was seeing the ball like a football.
The counter-attack from England’s openers was beginning to irritate Rohit Sharma as he was trying to find the right bowler to stem the flow of runs.
But Ashwin provided him with the breakthrough at 89-1, as Crawley’s top-edge sweep found the hands of Rajat Patidar at short dine leg, to give the veteran Off Spinner his 500th Test wicket.
Ollie Pope walked out to the middle with more intent.
And Duckett continued to tear apart the bowling.
India’s bowlers had no answer to the Left-hander’s belligerent batting as he raced towards his hundred.
And he got there in just 87 balls, with a lovely on-drive down the ground.
This was also the fastest Test century by an Englishman against India,
Pope continued his fine form at the other end.
And he played some extraordinary shots.
t-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;’>Embed from Getty ImagesBut, as he was looking comfortable at the crease. Mohammed Siraj pinned him LBW for 39 at 182-2. Umpire Joel Wilson had to overturn his decision of not out to out.
But that did not stop Duckett from dominating at the other end.
Joe Root also got into the act.
So, England reached 207-2 at stumps courtesy of a magnificent unbeaten knock of 133 by Ben Duckett. They will be hoping that he, Root, and the rest of the batting line-up can pile on the runs to put India under pressure.
India, on the other hand, will need early wickets to have the chance of controlling this Test match.
What does Day Three have in store for us?
Image Credit: Deposit Photos