England skipper Ben Stokes was optimistic of chasing down 399 runs in the final innings of the second Test match against India at Vizag. But the visitors could not get over the line as they ended up losing by 106 runs.
On the penultimate day, England had nine wickets in the bag but Indian bowlers came up with a fine display. The hosts picked five wickets in the morning session to put themselves in front.
Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin bagged three apiece in the second innings whereas Axar Patel, Mukesh Kumar, and Kuldeep Yadav also bagged one wicket each. Chasing 399 was always going to be a herculean task for England as Indian bowlers made the most of the home conditions.
While Zak Crawley played with a sedate approach to score 73, Joe Root came out firing but was dismissed trying to play a big shot. Stokes revealed that there are no suggestions given to his batters and they are experienced enough to assess the conditions and play accordingly.
Ben Stokes said in the post-match presentation, “Coming into this last innings, had full belief in ourselves that we’ll chase it down. In moments like that, in games with scoreboard pressure, that’s where we get the best out of ourselves. Another great game to be a part of. There’s no suggestion whatsoever about how to play. Everyone in the dressing room is a quality player. They are good enough to go out there and assess the conditions, and decide how to go about it.”
Meanwhile, England’s veteran pacer James Anderson picked up five wickets for the team. Stokes showered praise on his spinners as well as the veteran pacer for doing a fine job on day three.
Stokes concluded, “I absolutely loved it (captaining the spinners). To put in the performance they did yesterday was incredible. They showed a lot of maturity beyond the years. He’s amazing (Anderson). Two guys who’re incredible bowlers (Anderson and Bumrah).”
The series is now leveled at 1-1 and the third Test match between these two teams will be played at Rajkot from 15th February onwards.
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