India were waiting for a test win against England for quite some time now and when it finally came it was nothing less than emphatic. Chasing 405, England showed resilience as openers Cook and Hameed dug their heels in to block everything that came their way. Both the openers stayed together for 50 overs to score just 75 runs just before Hameed got a disastrous delivery that almost came parallel to the ground to hit him right in front. Cook followed on the last ball of day 4 to give India more than a sniff to take the match on the final day. England was expected to fight but Indian bowlers did not let them fancy any chance of a draw as they struck immediately. Ashwin, Jadeja, Shami and Yadav kept knocking English batsmen back with regular wickets. England finally collapsed for just 158, a few minutes after lunch to give India a massive 246 run win. With this win India move 1-0 ahead in the series, with the first match ending in a draw.
Earlier India won the toss and elected to bat first. KL Rahul was back in the team with Gambhir making way for him and Jayant Yadav got his debut coming in place of Amit Mishra. India would have hoped for a good start but it was not to be as both the openers departed relatively early, leaving India at 22 for 2. KL Rahul got a duck on is return while Vijay looked good before edging one to be dismissed for 20 runs. England looked sharp and in control as Kohli and Pujara got together to weather the storm. Both batsmen looked in good form and grew in confidence with every delivery.
As the conditions got better to bat, Kohli and Pujara kept England at bay with regular boundaries. They hardly looked in any trouble as the scoreboard moved with a solid run rate. When Pujara finally walked back to the pavilion he had already scored 119, his second century of the series and the third in last three tests and a crucial 226 run partnership with Virat for the 3rd wicket. Kohli too brought up his 14th test ton to keep his prolific form intact.
Kohli finally departed for 167 as Moeen Ali induced an outside edge from him and Ben Stokes completed the catch at first slip. Ashwin batted beautifully again to notch up yet another half century and debutant Jayant Yadav gave him able support at the other end after Saha and Jadeja failed and got out early. Ashwin scored 58 while Jayant scored a useful 35 to help India post a healthy 455 runs on the board in the first innings. James Anderson and Moeen Ali picked up 3 wickets each while Adil Rashid claimed 2.
England in reply got off to the worst possible start as Mohammad Shami send the stumps flying away to bid goodbye to England skipper Alistair Cook for just 2 runs. The pitch was still very good to bat on but the bowlers also were getting much better response from the pitch than Rajkot. Young opener Hasib Hameed and Joe Root started rebuilding the England innings with much assurance as Root in particular was getting runs at ease. Just when they looked settled, a terrible misunderstanding send Hameed back run out for 13 runs. Joe root fell to a false shot off Ashwin for 53 runs after Ben Duckett fell cheaply yet again to Ashwin.
From the other end, Yadav picked up his first test wicket to send the in-form Moeen Ali back for just 1 run. England were in deep trouble at 80 for 5 and the follow on number of 255 looked distant. Ben Stokes and Johnny Bairstow came to the rescue once again with their initially gritty and then aggressive half century innings. After the initial testing period both Stokes and Bairstow sent Indian bowlers on leather hunt as they stitched together a vital partnership of 110 runs. The partnership finally was ended by a superb Yorker from Umesh Yadav to send Bairstow back for 53 runs. Stokes finally fell to Ashwin for 70 as Indian bowlers clawed their way back to dismiss England for 255 runs. India had managed a more than helpful lead of 200 runs. Ashwin claimed the last two England wickets off consecutive deliveries to bring up a record 22nd 5 wicket haul for India.
With a lead conceded of 200 runs, England knew they would be playing the chasing game. They could have surrendered meekly bu they chose to fight with a spirited bowling effort especially from Stuart Broad. Broad removed both the openers with the Indian team score on just 17 runs. James Anderson bowled a jaffer to knock back Pujara’s stumps to make that 40 for 3. Kohli was scoring freely at one end while the wickets kept tumbling at the other. Rahane stalled the fall for sometime as he gave the much needed support to Kohli, who was going great guns at one end.
Rahane scored 26 runs before being dismissed by Broad to end the 77 run partnership. From 117 for 3, India lost the way completely to reach 162 for 9. No one spent much time on the crease except Virat Kohli, who again got out caught at first slip but not before scoring a possibly match winning 81 runs. Overall India were 362 ahead but somehow looked a bit short. Debutant Jayant Yadav once again batted brilliantly in partnership with Mohd. Shami to take the final score to 204 and the overall lead to 404. Jayant was not out on 27 while Shami scored a six filled 19 before being the last man out.
England showed brilliance in phases but were ordinary most of the time. The next match in Mohali should give them hope as the wicket there generally tends to help fast bowlers. India has had a good game with batsmen and bowlers all getting into the act.
IND vs ENG, 2nd Test, Vizag
India 455 & 204
England 255 & 158 (97.3 ov)