Cook, Hameed give India a setback

England bowlers came all guns blazing on Sunday morning and took seven Indian wickets in an extended first session to bowl India out for 204. Then, it was the turn of their openers Cook (54 off 188 balls) and Haseeb Hameed (25 of 144 balls) to show excellent poise and character — a Test match special — in the second Test here on Sunday. 

The Englishmen, facing a colossal task of chasing 405 to win the Test or bat out five sessions — or 150 overs consumed 59.2 overs and scored 87/2 with Joe Root holding fort, when stumps were drawn on the fourth day. Cook fell for 54 to Ravindra Jadeja with just four balls remaining in the day. 

However, with the Indian spinners extracting a good turn from the rough and an uneven bounce, India would consider themselves the favourites on the fifth day. 

India were almost expected to wrap things up on Saturday evening but Cook and Hameed dug deep. The situation wasn’t alien for India. South Afrcia’s A B de Villiers and Hashim Amla almost blocked five sessions last year and England attempted an encore. 

The Indian bowlers toiled hard for 51 overs, got close with technology assisting them but both the reviews returned an umpire’s call, to get the breakthrough. Ashwin bowled a length ball, outside off-stump and the ball kept low to catch Hameed off-guard to strike him plumb in-front. A partnership of 75 in 50.2 overs ended. 

Earlier in the morning, Stuart Broad and Adil Shared took four wickets apiece while Jayant Yadav and Mohammed Shami put on 42 in less than 10 overs as India made 204. 

Resuming at 98/3, India lost vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane when Broad, who generated excellent pace in a deadly combo of cross-seam bowling, made the batsman steer it to Cook in the slip cordon. 

Broad’s mesmerising spell continued when he removed Ashwin after the batsman got a faint edge for keeper Jonathan Bairstow to do the rest behind the stumps. 

Wriddhiman Saha didn’t last long and was trapped in-front by Adil Rashid and Saha instantly called for a review, only to find the result negative. The ball was on course to clip the top of leg stump. 

Ben Stokes then produced an outstanding acrobatic effort, putting gravity to shame, when he plucked a catch behind his body with one hand, while he was parallel to the ground. Kohli, in an attempt to drive a flighted leg-break from Rashid, got an edge and the ball flew past Stokes who picked it up from thin air. With the Indian skipper back in the hut for a well-made 81, India were in a spot of bother at 151/7. 

Jadeja and Umesh Yadav couldn’t get going and the former perished while trying to up the ante while Bairstow took a good catch to send Umesh back.

Debutant Jayant continued to have an impressive game and along with Shami, stuck some lusty blows in the end to frustrate the England bowlers. A half-hour extension of the first session and a change of bowling from Cook ended Shami’s sojourn when the batsman couldn’t a part of his foot behind the line to be adjudged stumped.