RANCHI, India (AP) — Off-spinner Shoaib Bashir picked up four wickets as England moved into a dominant position against India on Day 2 of the fourth test on Saturday.
Bashir took 4-84, while left-arm spinner Tom Hartley took 2-47, as India finished at 219-7 (73 overs) in its first innings at stumps, trailing by 134 runs.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal top-scored for India with 73 runs, but no other batter crossed the 40-run mark.
Joe Root had scored 122 not out to help England reach 353 runs in its first innings.
“That’s how I play every game really,” Root said. “I play according to the situation and conditions. It did cross my mind to play the reverse scoop (when on 96) but it was not a great option as the wicket was keeping low unlike the previous wickets. I was desperate to get some runs for the team and I was happy to do that today.”
Thereafter, India was placed at 34-1 at lunch, losing skipper Rohit Sharma for two. He was caught behind off James Anderson.
Jaiswal and Shubman Gill then added 82 runs for the second wicket on either side of the lunch break. This was the key partnership for India, as both are in-form batters with the highest runs for their side in this series.
Gill scored 38 off 65 balls, including six fours, and India’s slide began with his dismissal. Before the hour mark in the second session, Gill was out lbw off Bashir.
Rajat Patidar was dismissed in the same manner — out lbw for 17 runs. Bashir was on a roll as Ollie Pope grasped a catch at short leg to help dismiss Ravindra Jadeja. The all-rounder was out for 12 — he hit two sixes — with India now down to 130-4 before tea.
Jaiswal reached 50 off 89 balls. Just before that, he survived as Ben Foakes’ catch was ruled to be unclean. The ball had bounced just before reaching the keeper’s gloves as Ollie Robinson was denied in the 20th over.
India was in a bit of bother at 131-4 at tea. After the break, Hartley got into action. Root took a sharp catch at slip to dismiss Sarfaraz Khan for 14. He had added 31 runs with Jaiswal for the fifth wicket.
The big blow came when Jaiswal played onto his stumps off Bashir in the 47th over and was dismissed, leaving England in a commanding position.
Hartley trapped Ravichandran Ashwin for one to expose India’s tail.
Keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel fought on, scoring 30 not out until stumps, and put on 42 runs for the eighth wicket with Kuldeep Yadav, who was unbeaten on 17 runs at the end of play.
In the morning session, Root had helped England cross the 350-run mark. Starting from overnight 302-7, the visitors had added 51 runs before losing its last three wickets.
Robinson scored 58 runs — his maiden test half-century — adding 102 runs for the eighth wicket with Root.
Jadeja then wrapped up the English innings just past the hour mark in the morning session, picking three wickets in 11 balls, to finish with 4-67. Debutant pacer Akash Deep finished with 3-83.
England has had “a good couple of days,” Root said.
“It looks like the pitch will keep deteriorating. Seeing the two young spinners perform like that is encouraging for England cricket,” he added. “I hadn’t seen much of Bashir before the series, but he is a great character. It was great to see him keep coming at the batters.”
India has a 2-1 lead in the five-test series, after winning back-to-back tests in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot by 106 and 434 runs, respectively. England had won the first test in Hyderabad by 28 runs.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
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