India beat England by 246 runs to win 2nd test

“From disappointingly losing those five wickets on day two – in India you need to score first innings runs – you saw how hard it is to score in India’s second innings”, England captain Alastair Cook said, pointing to his counterpart Virat Kohli’s 167 and 81 with the bat as another decisive factor.

Resuming on 98/3 with a healthy lead of 298, the hosts, who survived a late scare in the opening contest to seal a draw, lost Ajinkya Rahane early on when Cook took a catch off Stuart Broad at slip.

Jayant, the batsman, once again proved his worth after India were reduced to 162/9 in the second innings. We don’t have to be complacent at all.

Broad, who took his first two wickets on the third day without conceding a run, added two more on day four.

But others in a line-up of natural strokemakers were playing against type, and England lost all 10 wickets for 83 runs as off-spinners Ravi Ashwin and Jayant Yadav struck three times each. Haseeb Hameed and his composure at the crease will be England’s biggest positive from the game along with the return of pace spearhead James Anderson. R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were handed extended spells and thus were made to cramp up the England batsmen.

Hameed fell victim of a ball that shot across the floor and was trapped LBW by the world’s number one bowler, adding to his five-wicket haul in the first innings.

Root, who scored a gritty 25, reviewed the decision but TV replays suggested the ball would have got the leg stump, upholding the onfield call.

India earned the prized wicket of unsafe Alastair Cook (54) at the stoke of day’s play when Ravindra Jadeja plumbed Cook in the final over of the day.

He said of the opposition: “They are good bowlers”.

India scored 455 in its first innings, and England replied with 255 with the hosts deciding not to enforce the follow-on.

England displayed terrific defensive batting on Day four when India set them a target of 405 in the second Test at Vizag on Sunday. “We’ve still got a lot to work with tomorrow”.

“It doesn’t really change, we’ve got to win a couple of games to get us back in this series”.

“It was a great toss to win a few days ago and the pitch has deteriorated and cracked, but it’s not doing anything horrific so we’ve certainly got a chance”. From Visakhapatnam, the action will shift to Mohali at the PCA Stadium for the third Test starting Saturday while the fourth match commences on December 8.