VISAKHAPATNAM: Jasprit Bumrah’s craft and Ravichandran Ashwin’s guile secured India’s seri­es-levelling victory by 106 runs in the pulsating second Test against England on Monday.

Under Ben Stokes, Engl­and have made it a habit of chasing big fourth-innings targets but scoring 399 against India’s formidable spin attack in conditions that suit their craft was always going to be an onerous task.

Zak Crawley smashed a belligerent 73, while Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley produced defiant 36s down the order but Engl­a­nd were all out for 292.

Bumrah and spinner Ashwin, who ended the match on 499 Test wickets, took three each in the final innings and the pace spearhead bowled Tom Hartley to seal the win.

Shubman Gill set up the comeback victory for the hosts with his 104 on day three to set England, who won the opening Test, a daunting target.

Yashasvi Jaiswal had ma­de an impact with his 209 in India’s first innings of 396 after they elected to bat.

England came out swin­ging with their “Bazball” bra­nd of cricket, Crawley and com­pany hitting boun­dar­ies despite losing wickets.

“The way we have gone about taking on challenges like that is what we are about,” said skipper Ben Stokes. “In moments like that, when you have scoreboard pressure, that is when we get the best out of ourselves as individuals.

“The way we applied ourselves and put India under pressure was great, unfortunately we didn’t end up on the right side of the result. We have had two great tests out here. Two close games does take it out of you emotionally so we will have some time with families and partners. We will recharge the batteries, get away for four or five days, and then prepare for Rajkot.”

He said a virus had hit the team Monday morning with a couple of players waking up sick but did not offer that as an “excuse” for the loss.

England were cruising at 95-1 in their pursuit of a big total before India’s left-arm spinner Axar Patel got a key breakthrough when he trapped Rehan Ahmed lbw for 23 after the nightwatchman hit five fours in his 31-ball knock.

Ashwin (3-72) then rattled England by dismissing Ollie Pope and Joe Root in his successive overs.

Pope hammered five boundaries in his brief stay at the wicket before Ashwin had him caught at slip on 23.

Root showed no signs of the finger injury that kept him out of the field for much of Sunday as he reverse-swept for two fours but his casual charge down the track resulted in a top-edge that descended on Patel at backward point.

An unfazed Crawley batted with the kind of aggression that has become the hallmark of the side under Stokes.

The chase soon lost steam with two wickets in five balls before lunch, including Crawley out lbw off left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

The lbw appeal was turned down by the on-field umpire but India successfully reviewed the call.

Jonny Bairstow followed just four balls later, with England at 194-6.

Stokes attempted to get the chase back on track after lunch but a direct hit by Shreyas Iyer had the left-hander run out on 11 while eyeing a quick single.

Foakes and Hartley refu­sed to throw in the towel, though, and the mounting frustration prompted Rohit to turn to Bumrah (3-46).

Bumrah, whose match haul of nine wickets fetc­hed him player-of-the-match award, did not let his captain down.

He foxed Foakes with a slower ball to elicit a return catch and flattened Har­tley’s off-stump to seal India’s victory in the second session on day four.

India would be mighty relieved to have levelled the series despite missing three key players.

Virat Kohli skipped the first two Tests for personal reason, while both batters K.L. Rahul and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja missed the match with injuries sustained in the series opener in Hyderabad.

“Very, very proud of such a young squad in ter­ms of the Test matches that they’ve played,” India captain Rohit Sharma said. “It’s important from our side to give them confidence, and this win, obviously, will give them a lot of confidence, and (tell them) just to go out there and play freely.”

Bumrah played a key role with his six wickets in England’s first-innings tot­al of 253 as the tourists conceded a crucial lead of 143.

“He’s a champion player for us, he has done the job for us for a while,” said Sharma. “When you win a game like that you have to look at the overall performance. We know that winning a Test match in these conditions is not going to be easy, the bowlers stepped up.”

The third Test starts February 15 in Rajkot and the teams will take a break beforehand, with England expected to fly to the United Arab Emirates for the week.

Scoreboard

INDIA (1st Innings) 396 (Y. Jaiswal 209; J. Anderson 3-47, R. Ahmed 3-65, S. Bashir 3-138)
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 253 (Z. Crawley 76, B. Stokes 47; J. Bumrah 6-45, K. Yadav 3-71)
INDIA (2nd Innings) 255 (S. Gill 104, A. Patel 45; T. Hartley 4-77, R. Ahmed 3-88)

ENGLAND (2nd Innings, overnight 67-1):
Z. Crawley lbw b Kuldeep 73
B. Duckett c Bharat b Ashwin 28
R. Ahmed lbw b Patel 23
O. Pope c Rohit b Ashwin 23
J. Root c Patel b Ashwin 16
J. Bairstow lbw b Bumrah 26
B. Stokes run out 11
B. Foakes c&b Bumrah 36
T. Hartley b Bumrah 36
S. Bashir c Bharat b Kumar 0
J. Anderson not out 5

EXTRAS (B-8, LB-5, NB-2) 15
TOTAL (all out, 69.2 overs) 292
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-50 (Duckett), 2-95 (Ahmed), 3-132 (Pope), 4-154 (Root), 5-194 (Crawley), 6-194 (Bairstow), 7-220 (Stokes), 8-275 (Foakes), 9-281 (Bashir)
BOWLING: Bumrah 17.2-4-46-3 (1nb), Kumar 5-1-26-1 (1nb), Yadav 15-0-60-1, Ashwin 18-2-72-3, Axar 14-1-75-1
RESULT: India won by 106 runs.
PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Jasprit Bumrah

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2024