Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], February 14 (ANI): Joe Root, Dominic Sibley, Dan Lawrence, and Rory Burns failed to get going for England and as a result, India gained an upper hand on day two of the ongoing second Test here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
At the lunch break, England’s score reads 39/4 and the visitors are still trailing India by 290 runs. For England, Ben Stokes is currently unbeaten on 8. The first session saw eight wickets falling and 68 runs being scored from 25.5 overs.
After bundling out India for 329, England got off to the worst start possible as Rory Burns (0) was adjudged leg-before wicket of the delivery bowled by Ishant Sharma in the very first over of the innings. Soon after, Ravichandran Ashwin removed Sibley (16) and England was reduced to 16/2 in the eighth over.
Skipper Root (6) failed to leave a mark as he top-edged the ball delivered by Axar Patel and as a result, the left-arm spinner got his first wicket in Tests. On the last ball before the lunch break, Ashwin removed Lawrence (9) and England went into the break at 39/4.
Earlier, resuming the second day at 300/6, India got off to a bad start as the side lost Axar (5) in just the second over of the day as Moeen Ali had him stumped at the hands of wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. In the very same over, Ali dismissed Ishant for a duck and as a result, the hosts were reduced to 301/8.
After these two wickets, Pant changed his batting style and he unleashed big strokes and as a result, he brought up his fifty off just 65 balls. The spinners were not troubling the number nine Kuldeep Yadav, hence skipper Root introduced Olly Stone into the attack and he immediately gave the breakthrough of Kuldeep (0), reducing the hosts to 325/9.
In the very same over, Stone dismissed the last batsman Mohammed Siraj (4) and as a result, India was bowled out for 329 and Pant remained unbeaten on 58.
On the first day, Rohit Sharma played a knock of 161 while Ajinkya Rahane provided him support with a knock of 67 to help the hosts gain an upper hand in the match.
Brief Scores: India 329 (Rohit Sharma 161, Ajinkya Rahane 67, Moeen Ali 4-128); England 39/4 (Dominic Sibley 16, Ben Stokes 8*, Ravichandran Ashwin 2-15). (ANI)
