2nd Test: India in pole position

Visakhapatnam : Yashasvi Jaiswal converted his century into a maiden double-hundred while Jasprit Bumrah produced a masterclass in reverse-swing bowling as the duo put India in pole position on Day Two of the second Test against England at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Playing in just his sixth Test match, Jaiswal began from an overnight score of 179 not out to hit a career-best 209 from 290 balls, laced with 19 fours and seven sixes. He led India’s charge single-handedly, especially when the next best score in the line-up was 34, before being dismissed by veteran fast-bowler James Anderson, as India made 396 in 112 overs.

In reply, England raced to 114/1, with Zak Crawley making a quick 76, before they were bowled out for 253, giving India a 143-run lead. Bumrah took 6-45 in 15.5 overs, his best Test figures in India and also became the fastest bowler from his country to reach 150 scalps in the format.

Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav took three wickets on his return to Tests, while Axar Patel had a scalp to his name. Jaiswal (15 not out) and Rohit Sharma (13 not out) hit six boundaries between themselves to make it 28/0 in five overs of their second innings at stumps, with India leading by 171 runs.

Jaiswal mixed caution and aggression in equal measure and stood tall even as his team-mates fell from the other end to become the third youngest Indian batter to score a double hundred in Test cricket, via a six and four off debutant England spinner Shoaib Bashir in the 102nd over.

But Day Two’s morning session left England happy as India's last four wickets fell for 32 runs. Anderson took three wickets in his miserly spell while Bashir and Rehan Ahmed also took three scalps.

Ravichandran Ashwin resumed his innings with exquisite cover drives off Bashir, while Jaiswal, who survived an lbw appeal off Anderson, whacked the off-spinner by dancing down the pitch to smack a six over long-on to enter the 190s.

Anderson got the first wicket of the morning when he squared up Ashwin on defence and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes took the catch behind. Jaiswal brought up his double-hundred in style with back-to-back boundaries off Bashir -– a slog-sweep over backward square-leg for six was followed by sweeping a full toss for four.

Jaiswal celebrated by removing his helmet, jumping with joy and blowing kisses to a weekend crowd giving him a standing ovation and chanting his name to applaud his magnificent knock. He then tried taking the attack against Anderson – a thick edge on being squared up went for four.

But Jaiswal fell when he tried to slice off Anderson after coming down the pitch, only for deep cover to take the catch. It brought the end of his momentous knock, as Jaiswal was given a standing ovation by everyone in the stadium. India’s innings ended swiftly as Bumrah edged to first slip off Ahmed and Mukesh Kumar too fell in the same fashion against Bashir, as the hosts fell short of 400 by just four runs.

Crawley and Duckett took England to 32/0 at lunch, including the latter taking three boundaries off Mukesh in the fourth over. Post lunch, Crawley got a life at 18, when Shubman Gill couldn’t hold on to a chance at short mid-wicket. Crawley proceeded to take four boundaries off Bumrah and even took a boundary off Ashwin by beating leg-gully on his right.

But India had a breakthrough when Kuldeep got extra bounce on a good length ball which Duckett tried to defend and the ball was caught by a silly point. Ollie Pope survived on his very first ball when K.S. Bharat couldn’t gather the ball cleanly, and missed a stumping chance.

Crawley continued to go his way undeterred -– driving Kuldeep firmly through long-off for four, before slog-sweeping for six to get his fifty in just 52 balls. While Pope was being tested by the Indian spinners, especially by Ashwin on the outside edge, Crawley was nailing his slog-sweep, punch and drive against the off-spinner for boundaries as England reached 100 in the 20th over. Crawley’s fun came to an end when he tried to take on a slightly wide ball against Patel and the ball took the leading edge to a back-tracking backward point. Joe Root was off the mark with a reverse sweep but was teased by away-swingers from a probing Bumrah. The plan worked well as Root poked at the corridor of uncertainty and edged to first slip.

Brief scores

India 396 all out in 112 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 209; James Anderson 3-47) and 28/0 in five overs lead England 253 all out in 55 overs (Zak Crawley 76, Ben Stokes 47; Jasprit Bumrah 6-45, Kuldeep Yadav 3-71) by 171 runs.