Ravi Ashwin casts his spell to leave England on the brink

Second Test day two: India 54-1 off 18 overs and 329 off 95.5 overs (R Sharma 161, A Rahane 67, R Pant 58, M Ali 4-128, O Stone 3-47) lead England 134 (B Foakes 42*, R Ashwin 5-43) by 249 runs.

When England were in Chennai back in 2016 an almighty cyclone struck the city just days before the final Test of what was a sorry series. Four years on the tourists find themselves needing something similar to blow in from the Bay of Bengal if they are to depart the city with their 1-0 lead intact.

By stumps on the second day of the second Test they trudged back into the dressing room to begin chewing over the three sessions that had gone before and 10 of the 15 wickets to fall. India had progressed to 54 for one, with a lead of 249 giving the hosts a vice-like grip on proceedings, after Ravichandran Ashwin had rolled England for 134 all out with his 29th five-wicket haul.

Ben Foakes stood tall among the rubble here, bouncing on from an immaculate first innings performance with the gloves by chiselling out a fine unbeaten 42 from 107 balls. But his performance aside, the innings represented a heavy comedown for an England side that won on the same ground last week as Ashwin and the pitch preyed on scrambled minds.

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The surface has become a talking point but over the course of two days it became harder to claim the toss was all-important, certainly when considering the first Test. It has spun sharply from the outset, balls bursting through the black topsoil, and yet there has been a degree of consistency at least. Once the ball is softer, things have eased up a touch too.

It may well end up being rated as “poor” from the perspective of a five-day sport but the two sides have differed hugely in their use of it. And while India have clearly requested assistance from the groundsman, it is worth noting that the 1,042 deliveries sent down so far is more than during recent England victories over Sri Lanka at Headingley in 2016 (976) and India at Lord’s in 2018 (1,023).

While England struggled to control the rate during India’s 329 all out here, with Rohit Sharma’s 161 already shaping up as the match-winning performance, India’s attack was impeccable. Runs on the board only go so far to explain this, with Ashwin in particular relentless in his probing of defences by using all the varieties and changes of pace that emerge from his cocktail-shaking finger spin.

Three wickets fell to seam also, Ishant Sharma pinning Rory Burns lbw third ball for his second duck and having Jack Leach caught behind to a second stunning effort from Rishabh Pant behind the stumps. The first came when Ollie Pope glanced Mohammed Siraj’s first delivery on home soil down leg, Pant flying to his left, snaring the ball in the webbing of his glove and juggling successfully.

Pope had been the first to offer some semblance of resistance too, making a busy 22 from 57 balls as he and his Surrey colleague, Foakes, tried to stem the flow of wickets. But his departure in the afternoon to Siraj’s loosener left England 87 for six and already looking towards the weather forecast.

Virat Kohli made good use of the crowd’s return (if not the review system that saw him burn all three). He kept whistling to the hyped-up supporters in the manner that has become customary when Chennai Super Kings are at home, with this and the ever-chuntering Pant creating an intensity that was absent when the stands were empty last week.

Kohli also had a telling local resource in Ashwin, whose two wickets in the morning saw England 39 for four at lunch. Having profited from a duffed sweep by Dom Sibley on 16 that popped to leg slip off the back of the bat, he capped off the session by delaying his final ball to Dan Lawrence, ramping up the pressure on the young right-hander and teasing an inside edge to short leg.

The pitch was largely irrelevant for the pick of Ashwin’s scalps too, beating Stokes through the air after the break with a beauty, bowled for 18, to see Kohli’s audience once more in raptures. But the one that sent the greatest shockwaves through the England camp was Joe Root’s earlier demise for just six.

The sweep shot has been Root’s best friend during a remarkable run of form this winter. Here, on a more capricious surface than during last week’s 218, it sent a top-edge to short fine-leg to give debutant left-arm spinner Axar Patel his maiden Test wicket amid figures of two for 20 from 20 overs.

When Ashwin polished off the tail, Stuart Broad bowled on the sweep second ball to end 59.5 largely one-sided overs, he became the first bowler to dismiss 200 left-handers in Test cricket and finished with figures of five for 43. Only Muttiah Muralitharan (45), Rangana Herath (26) and Anil Kumble (25) boast more than his current 23 five-wicket hauls on home soil.

The morning session had seen England wrap up India’s first innings without conceding an extra during the 95.5 overs; a record by way of runs shipped (329) and a feather in the cap of Foakes upon his return to the side. Pant was left unbeaten on 58, with the impressive Olly Stone finished with three for 47.

Moeen Ali, whose four for a costly 128 included a smart stumping by Foakes first thing, had far greater control during the final hour and was left aggrieved when Rohit Sharma padded up to one on 21. The on-field umpire declined England’s appeal for lbw, judging a shot to have been played, and with that the case Root’s subsequent review was in vain.

Leach did remove Shubman Gill lbw for 14 and saw another such appeal off Rohit Sharma struck down on review due to an inside edge. Come the close the opener walked off unbeaten on 25 with Chesteshwar Pujara for company, earning hearty slaps on the back from Kohli upon reaching the boundary’s edge. - Guardian