RANCHI: England spinner Shoaib Bashir ran through India’s middle-order with four wickets and restricted the hosts to 219/7 at Stumps on Day 2 of the ongoing fourth Test here on Saturday.
India were trailing by another 134 runs when the stumps were called with wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav unbeaten at the crease.
The duo of Jurel (30) and Yadav (17) batted sensibly in the final hour of the second day to stop England’s bowling charge, who had India reduced to 177/7.
The hosts had a shaky start to their innings as their skipper Rohit Sharma (2) perished cheaply with just four runs on the board.
But in-form opener Yashasvi Jaiswal partnered strongly with Shubman Gill and anchored the innings.
They added 82 runs for the second wicket before Shoaib Bashir got Gill lbw with a sharply spun delivery. The right-handed batter scored 38 with the help of six boundaries.
Jaiswal then put on brief partnerships with Rajat Patidar (17) and Ravindra Jadeja (12) before finally perishing in the final session.
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He remained the top-scorer for India with a gutsy 73 which featured eight boundaries and a six.
The home side found themselves in heaps of trouble earlier in the third session as Sarfaraz Khan (14) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1) also fell cheaply, bringing India down to 177/7.
Earlier in the day, England resumed their first innings with an overnight score of 302/7 with Joe Root and Ollie Robbinson.
The pair started from where they left off and appeared in complete control until Jadeja broke the threatening partnership by getting Robbinson caught behind.
Robbinson scored 58 off 96 deliveries with the help of 10 boundaries including a six.
His dismissal exposed England’s batting tail and Jadeja, fuelled with momentum, struck twice again in his consecutive overs to book England on 353.
England’s star with the bat Joe Root remained unbeaten with a gutsy 122 which featured 10 boundaries.
Ravindra Jadeja led the bowling attack for India with four wickets, followed Akash Deep, who bagged three on debut.
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