England to resume at overnight score of 103 for 5 today

India, overnight 317 for four, were all out for 455 in 129.4 overs, with the innings coming to an end 39 minutes after lunch. Virat Kohli (167, 401m, 267b, 18x4) added 16 more runs to his bed-time score while R Ashwin brought up his second half-century of the series to help India build an impressive total on a wearing track. 

Ashwin (2/20) then shone with the ball, claiming the wickets of Ben Duckett and Joe Root (53, 98b, 6x4) as England were left reeling at 103 for five in 49 overs when stumps were drawn here at the ACA-VDCA YSR Stadium on Friday.

England are still in deficit of 352 runs and with the Indian spinners looking dangerous, it will require something out of the ordinary for the tourists to haul themselves out of the rut they are in. A fortuitous Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow survived some anxious moments before walking out unbeaten on another day of India’s domination.

Mohammad Shami set the tone for the proceedings with a peach of a delivery to send England’s skipper Alastair Cook back in the hut. Shami, who bowled a probing first spell (5-1-12-1), broke Cook’s off-stump into two with a ball that held its line after pitching and went through the gap between pad and bat. Umesh Yadav too bowled a testing spell as England went into tea break at 34/1.

Upon



resumption things turned worse for the visitors due to a combination indiscretion and some error in judgement. Haseeb Hameed was run out after being sent back by Root with Wriddhiman Saha coming up with some brilliant work. Jayant Yadav threw the ball from square leg but Saha had to come forward to collect it, but the stumper showed great presence of mind to back-flick the ball, a la MS Dhoni, to catch Hameed short.

Jayant, who earlier had forged a handy stand with Ashwin, made his debut day even more special by accounting for Moeen Ali. Though umpire Kumar Dharmasena had turned down the original appeal, the off-spinner convinced his skipper to take DRS which vindicated Jayant’s decision. The day would have been even better for Jayant with some luck but the rub of the green went Stokes’ way when the bail didn’t dislodge after being hit in the 41st over.

In the meanwhile, Ashwin had ended Root’s stay. After stroking his way to a confident 53, the right-hander took a wild swipe at off-spinner but wasn’t quite in a position to go through the shot. The miscued effort was taken at mid-off.The pitch hasn’t yet crumbled for England batsmen to worry but if they continue to play the bowler rather than the ball like they did on the day, it will be impossible for them to escape defeat.