Indian Cricket Team
After the first test being washed out due to rain, Indians came out all guns blazing in the second and it was their openers K L Rahul and Rohit Sharma who got them off to a dream start. It was unfortunate though that after the first day of the test which Indian won all three sessions, they were behind the 8th ball in all 3 days.
It was all because England captain Joe Root scored a magnificent 180 not out and made sure England had some lead from their first innings score. In India’s second innings, they had the worst start ever. India lost both their openers early and Virat Kohli too didn’t last long. However, it was then left for the veterans like Pujara and Rahane to do something special. They did the same as they had exactly a 100 runs stand of 350 balls. More than runs it was the balls that they played. England bowlers were tired and it looked after both of them were dismissed. Moen Ali brought them into the game but it wasn’t enough as India had 154 runs lead going into the final day.
England had the dream start as they got rid of dangerous-looking Pant early and Ishant also got out after making a small contribution. Everyone thought India at max can have a target of 190-200 and that won’t be enough. Shami and Bumrah though had other plans. Shami decided to play the second fiddle and started milking singles that were there on offer.
Bumrah kept swinging hard and got some boundaries too. Once the fast bowlers were off, it was Shami who showed his skills with the bat and smacked Moen Ali all over the park. He hit a huge six off Moen Ali to get to his half-century and Indian finally declared after playing some overs after lunch.
England had the worst possible start as they lost both their openers on duck. Joe Root and Hameed had a little partnership before Hameed departed. Barristow also didn’t last long as Ishant got his back soon after Hameed and India were convinced to win it in the final session. Come the final session and Root was uprooted by a Bumrah special and England captain who was England’s main hope, got out leaving his team in a sport of bother. Moen Ali and Jos Butler batted sensibly and the match was heading for a draw when Siraj took 2 of 2 balls and brought India right into the game.
Butler tried his best and took it to the last 11 overs before he was undone by a Siraj special and the last two wickets were picked soon after. India finally won the test match with a margin of 152 runs. Kohli’s decision-making and captaincy were praised and the sledding that he did, grabbed many eyeballs on social media. It was a great match of cricket that went down to the wire and finally India has an upper hand in the series. The 3rd test match will kick off from Saturday and India will more or less be sticked to the same playing 11.