India end day’s play at 60/0 after England’s lower-order pushed the visitors’ total to 477 on the second day of the fifth and final Test at the Chepauk stadium in Chennai on Saturday. India openers Parthiv Patel and KL Rahul were batting on 28 and 30 when umpires called stumps.
It wasn’t an ideal start to the day for England as they lost overnight batsman Ben Stokes in the very first over when R Ashwin scalped the all-rounder, and picked his first wicket of the match. Next man in Jos Buttler too didn’t last long as he was trapped in front by Ishant Sharma for just five. The seamers did an excellent job for the hosts this morning as Umesh Yadav struck from the other end when he got rid of centurion Moeen Ali.
England, 321/7, were in danger of getting bundled out around the 350-run mark before the lower-order delivered, and added plenty of runs in the process. Adil Rashid combined with debutant Liam Dawson to frustrate the hosts and score crucial runs in the process. The duo added 108 runs before the leggie sent back to the hut by Yadav. Dawson held one end and added more runs with the tail as England managed to post 477 in the first innings.
The debutant remained unbeaten on 66 as he saw Jake Ball get cleaned up by the Amit Mishra googly. This was Mishra’s first wicket of the match, and it certainly has been a disappointing outing for the leg-spinner. India’s openers were solid in reply and ensured the team has ten wickets intact at the end of Day 2.
India would hope for a good show with the bat on the third day of the fifth and final Test in Chennai.