| Second Test, Visakhapatnam (day two of five): |
| India 396 (Jaiswal 209; Anderson 3-47, Ahmed 3-65, Bashir 3-138) & 28-0 |
| England 253: Crawley 76; Bumrah 6-45, Kuldeep 3-71 |
| India lead by 171 runs |
| Scorecard |
England were blown away by a scintillating spell of reverse-swing bowling by India’s Jasprit Bumrah on day two of the second Test in Visakhapatnam.
Bumrah took 6-45 in a devastating burst either side of tea, sensationally knocking Ollie Pope’s middle and leg stumps out of the ground with an unplayable in-swinging yorker.
Zak Crawley batted beautifully for 76, but his loose swipe at Axar Patel allowed Bumrah and spinner Kuldeep Yadav to rip the heart out of England’s middle order. In all, the tourists lost 6-68.
Ben Stokes fought back with 47 until he was bowled by Bumrah, who took his fifth when Tom Hartley was caught at first slip and then had James Anderson lbw to leave England 253 all out.
That gave India a first-innings lead of 143 after they were bowled out for 396 in the morning session.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, 22, became the third-youngest Indian man to make a Test double century before holing out off Anderson, who along with Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed finished with three wickets.
Jaiswal was batting again before the close, joined by captain Rohit Sharma to take India to 28-0. Their lead is 171 on a pitch where chasing any target of 300 or above would be utterly remarkable.
England looking for another comeback
England are in a dire position, but fewer runs behind on first innings than the 190 they gave up in the first Test in Hyderabad, when they pulled off an astonishing victory.
The main difference here is that it will be England batting last on a pitch that seems sure to deteriorate.
India are hugely indebted to Jaiswal. No-one else made more than 34 in the the hosts’ first innings. Their total looked no more than par and England had an opportunity to bat themselves into a position of strength.
The wicket of a Crawley was a huge turning point, after which England were overwhelmed by the skill of Bumrah and trickery of Kuldeep.
Stokes has saved England on countless occasions, so hope remained while the captain was at the crease. Ultimately, even he was powerless to resist the brilliant Bumrah.
It would take bravery to write off England, but comebacks like Hyderabad come once in a generation. The tourists now need their second in the space of a week.
Bumrah blasts through England
Crawley, on his 26th birthday, batted with extreme elegance to add 59 with Ben Duckett and 55 with Pope.
He played dreamy straight drives, two slog-sweeps for six and danced to clip Axar for four before trying to repeat it the next ball. Losing his shape, Crawley miscued to point, where Shreyas Iyer took a difficult catch running back over his shoulder.
With the ball reversing, India immediately called for Bumrah, who bowled even better than a similar spell in Hyderabad last week.
Joe Root, battling his technique, poked an edge and Jonny Bairstow was drawn into a needless drive. In between was the stunning delivery to Pope, arcing into the toes at almost 90mph to leave the superb visual of one stump standing and two lying on the ground.
At the other end left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep, in for the injured Ravindra Jadeja, was getting the ball to skid and pop. Duckett prodded to silly point, Ben Foakes played all around one to be bowled and Ahmed patted a long-hop to short mid-wicket.
Stokes countered, so Bumrah was summoned again. Two balls into a new spell, Bumrah got one to scoot into off stump, leaving Stokes to drop his bat and throw out his hands in frustration.
Hartley was spirited for his 21, including a six, but Bumrah was too good. Anderson survived one lbw review in adding 19 with Bashir, only to be plumb in front for Bumrah’s sixth.
India bat twice in the day
The 90 minutes that India batted on the second morning were action-packed. Jaiswal, on 179 from the overnight 336-6, attacked, while Anderson was masterful with the second new ball.
Jaiswal crashed Bashir for two sixes, then swept the same bowler for four to go to 200, celebrating by removing his gloves and helmet, and blowing kisses to the crowd.
Anderson had exchanged words with Ravichandran Ashwin before having him caught behind, then England dried Jaiswal’s scoring to entice a smear to Bairstow at deep cover. Ahmed had Bumrah caught at slip and debutant Bashir snared number 11 Mukesh Kumar in the same fashion.
Given their total, the conditions and the fact England reached 114-1, India surely could not have hoped to be batting again before the close with such a healthy lead.
When the opportunity came, Jaiswal and Rohit were intent on making it count, rattling along at almost six an over and leaving a platform from which to build a match-winning lead on Sunday.
‘We are still in the game’ – reaction
India bowler Jasprit Bumrah on TNT Sports: “I grew up watching legendary bowlers using reverse-swing to bowl magical deliveries and it really inspired me.
“Playing Test cricket has been my dream so whenever I get tired or things don’t go my way, I remind myself that I am doing what I have always wanted to do and I will always put in the effort.”
England batter Zak Crawley on TNT: “They played very well, obviously Jaiswal played an unbelievable innings and Bumrah was very, very good. He bowled some unplayable balls.
“I feel like we are still in the game massively. We back ourselves to chase a score on the fourth or fifth day.”
Former England bowler Steven Finn on TNT: “Bumrah gets into your head as a batter because you just know he can make the ball move in any direction he wants it to. He is a bowler like no other and he is very hard to prepare for.”
