English batters continued their battle against the deadly pace of Jasprit Bumrah, finishing 60/3 at the end of the second session of the fifth and final Test against India at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Saturday. At Tea, England’s score was 60/3, with Joe Root (19*) and Jonny Bairstow (6*) unbeaten on the crease. Bumrah was the first opener to knock off Alex Lees (6) with a delivery that came in with the corner. That delivery was preceded by a no-ball.
Bumrah continued his dominant show in the match, firing Zak Crawley for 9 after being caught by Shubman Gill on the third slip.
This brought Joe Root to the fold. He and Pope tried to stabilize the innings, but their tie was cut to 17 runs after Pope was sacked for only 10 by Bumrah. Bumrah continued his exploits by taking the third wicket of the innings after Shreyas Iyer caught the batter on the second slip. By chance. That wicketball was also preceded by a no-ball.
The man-in-form Jonny Bairstow was next. He and Root added up 16 runs before rain interrupted play. Tea was drunk early.
Earlier, a fantastic century by Ravindra Jadeja and late blitz by stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah brought India to a total of 416 on Day 2 in the first innings of the fifth and final Test against England here in Birmingham on Saturday.
At the time of lunch, England’s score was 16/1, with Zak Crawley (7) and Ollie Pope (0*) unbeaten on the crease.
India started on day 2 at 338/7. They were bundled for 416 in 84.5 overs. Rishabh Pant (146) and Ravindra Jadeja (104) were the stars of India with the bat.
Captain Jasprit Bumrah also contributed 31* in just 16 balls consisting of four boundaries and two sixes.
In the 84th over of the first innings, the India captain smoked England pacer Stuart Broad for — 4,5w,7nb,4,4,4,6,1 — a total of 35 runs of which 29 were credited to bumrah.
With this, he surpassed legendary West Indian batter Brian Lara, who in 2003 struckout South African Robin Peterson with 28 in an over. After Lara are former Australian batter George Bailey, who beat England pacer James Anderson for 28 in 2013, and South African spinner Keshav Maharaj, who set England’s Joe Root on fire for 28 runs in 2020.
James Anderson was the star for England, with 5/60 in 21.5 overs. Pacer Matty Potts also took 2/105 in 20 overs. Ben Stokes, Joe Root and Stuart Broad each got a wicket.
In the second inning, Jasprit Bumrah broke through early and sacked opener Alex Lees for only 6 runs by loosening his stumps. Early lunch was taken due to rain interrupting the game.
Previously, a brilliant century from wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant and his 222-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja propelled India to 338/7 on the first day of the fifth and final Test against England at Edgbaston Stadium here on Friday.
At the end of the first day, Jadeja (83*) and Mohammed Shami (0*) were over the moon.
India resumed their innings at 174/5 after Tea. Rishabh Pant showed his attacking intent by beating pacer Matty Potts for two brilliant fours in the very first over after Tea.
The duo continued to stack up runs, bringing up their 100-run partnership.
Jadeja kept turning the offense while Pant took on a more aggressive role as the innings went on. Potts, James Anderson and spinner Jack Leach took hard hits from Pant.
He spent his fifth Test hundred on just 89 balls. This was the third fastest hundred by an Indian outside of Asia, with Virender Sehwag being the fastest in 78 balls against the West Indies in 2006, followed by Mohammed Azharuddin against England in 1990 in 88 balls. Pant went ballistic in the 61st bowled over by spinner Leach, hitting him for 4,6,4,6.
Jadeja also kept looking good with the bat and put forth his half century. The pair also made their 200-run tie in 218 balls.
Joe Root earned his team the breakthrough by rejecting Pant for an entertaining 146 from 111 balls. The 222-run tie between Pant and Jadeja eventually ended in 67th left after Zak Crawley caught Pant at the slip.
This brought Shardul Thakur to the fold. He was sacked by Ben Stokes for one, caught by wicketkeeper Billings.
Mohammed Shami was the next man in the fold. India finished the first day of the competition in a comfortable position.
India was 174/5 at Tea thanks to a 76 point unbeaten run between Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja.
India struggled at 98-5 as the duo joined forces.
The duo of Hanuma Vihari and Virat Kohli resumed the innings at 53/2 after lunch, adding 11 more runs to their partnership, before Vihari was sacked for 20 after being pinned leg for wicket by pacer Matty Potts.
This brought wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant to the crease. Kohli was also soon back at the pavilion. He was caught by a fantastic 11-run throw from Potts, with the ball hitting the inside of his bat and hitting the stumps. Shreyas Iyer then came to the crease and looked good, hitting Potts for three fours. But he was sacked for 15 by James Anderson after being caught by wicketkeeper Sam Billings.
All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was next in line.
Rain played a bummer earlier in the game.
First at bat, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara came to anchor the innings. England broke through for the first time in the seventh over when James Anderson sacked Gill, who left after scoring 17 runs, leaving the team total at 27/1.
Vihari came to the fold and tried to stitch a partnership with Pujara. The duo brought India’s score to 46 before Anderson struck again, sending Pujara back to the pavilion.
Kohli teamed up with Vihari to take India’s tally at 53/2 before the rain.
promoted
Short scores: India 416 in 84.5 overs (Rishabh Pant 146, Ravindra Jadeja 104, James Anderson 5/60) ahead of England 60/3 (Joe Root 19*, Ollie Pope 10, Jasprit Bumrah 3/30) by 356 runs .
With ANI and PTI inputs
Topics mentioned in this article