Broad and Rashid shine but India still set England mammoth 405 target

Alastair Cook was unbeaten on 28, while Haseeb Hameed was 12 not out on the fourth day. His innings was laced with six boundaries.

“He further compared the innings to Mike Atherton’s knock of 280-ball 89 against a South Africa attack boasting Allan Donald while following on in the July 1998 drawn Test in Old Trafford”.

Rashid made that 162 for nine with the wickets of Ravindra Jadeja (14) and Umesh Yadav (0) before Jayant Yadav and Mohammed Shami (19) took the score past 200.

Since then India have won 13 of 15 Tests on home soil and they will fancy their chances of extending that run over the coming weeks to exact revenge on an England side against whom they have lost their past three series. Cook’s dismissal ended the day’s action. Cook also went on the backfoot and was similarly dismissed.

The wickets kept India on course to a win in the second Test in Vizag with the pitch not offering plenty but for some rough patches and variable bounce. Starting off from the pavillion end, Ashwin had an underwhelming first spell that included a first ball DRS referral only to be overturned.

Bairstow got one to sweep with a not-out verdict but an overconfident Ashwin showed the “T” sign without consulting his captain Kohli as the ace off-spinner had an underwhelming first session to his own standard.

Cook showed enormous patience en route his 53rd Test half-century which came off 172 balls – his slowest in longest format. But the contentious point was whether the ball was going on to hit the stumps. It would be, otherwise, hard to explain how the two Englishmen survived for more than 50 overs unharmed in such an unpredictable pitch.

Ashwin, who took his 22nd five-wicket haul in the first innings, cleaned up Zafar Ansari for a duck after lunch and Yadav dismissed Stuart Broad and James Anderson leg-before in successive balls to end the innings.

But once Hameed was out, adjudged leg before wicket (LBW) to Ashwin, England stumbled.

Chasing a daunting 405 on a deteriorating wicket, Cook and Haseem Hameed initially defied the Indian bowlers, who could not separate the openers in the afternoon session.

Captain Kohli struck another fifty and along with Ajinkya Rahane added 58 runs for the fourth wicket to put India in total control at stumps on Day 3. KOHLI CLASS AGAIN Credit can not be taken away from Kohli either when India resumed yesterday at 98 for three.

Earlier in the day, the England bowlers proved to be too good for the Indian batsmen as India were bowled out for 204 just before lunch. The Indian skipper, who had made 167 in the first innings, top scored with 81. That the two batsmen still fell to those two bowlers is a different matter but it still raised the hopes of an improbable Day Five contest in the Test.

Duckett, shifted down the order to No4 from the opening position he held during his recent debut series in Bangladesh, simply can not play Ashwin, India’s premier spinner who has clearly got inside his head.