CHENNAI, FEB 14
Rohit Sharma (25*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (7*) saw off the final few overs as India reached 54/1, extending their lead to 249 runs at stumps on Day 2 in Chennai.
A touch of class from Ash!
He may have surpassed @harbhajan_singh to become the second-highest wickettaker in India in Tests but @ashwinravi99 has nothing but respect for the ‘Turbanator’.
@Paytm #TeamIndia #INDvENG
Here’s what Ashwin said
pic.twitter.com/HIRSq07jCD
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 14, 2021
After taking a huge 195-run first innings lead, Indian openers Rohit and Shubman Gill gave the hosts a solid start, adding 42 runs for the first wicket. Shubman Gill was trapped leg before on 14 by Jack Leach, which was the only wicket to fall for India in the second innings.
Earlier, Ravichandran Ashwin took a five-wicket haul as England folded for 134 runs in the first innings, handing India a lead of 195 runs. Ashwin rattled Stuart Broad’s timber in the final session to complete the 29th five-wicket haul of his Test career.
Ashwin had picked two wickets each in the first two sessions. Ashwin accounted for the dismissals of three top-order batsmen, including Ben Stokes and Dom Sibley. He cleaned up Ben Stokes in the middle session with a beauty to leave England in deep trouble, with half of their batsmen back in the hut with just 52 runs on the board. Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes combined in the middle and stopped Indian spinners from making further inroads.
Virat Kohli then turned to Mohammed Siraj and he delivered immediately dismissing Ollie Pope for 22 runs on his first ball of the match. Pope tried to flick the delivery off his pads but Rishabh Pant pulled off a one-handed stunner diving to his left to end Pope’s fighting innings. With only few minutes left in Tea, Axar and Ashwin took two more wickets in quick succession to leave England reeling at 106/8 at Tea on the second day.
