London, Aug 1: Mohammed Siraj produced a lion-hearted spell and Prasidh Krishna cleaned up the tail to script India’s spirited comeback after a brutal assault from England openers on day two of the fifth and final Test here on Friday.
After a forgettable opening session where Siraj and Co. were taken to the cleaners by Ben Duckett (43) and Zak Crawley (64), the Indian pacers redeemed themselves by bowling out England for 247 in the final session, giving the hosts only a slender 23-run lead.
Both Siraj and Prasidh ended with four-wicket hauls.
India lost the reliable K L Rahul (7) in their second innings to a rare loose shot from the opener. At close, India were 75 for two in 18 overs, leading England by 52 runs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 batting) batted with aggressive intent despite being dropped twice while Sai Sudharsan (11) was trapped in front by Gus Atkinson shortly before stumps.
Jaiswal had got going with three fours in Atkinson’s opening over including a sublime straight drive before being given a chance on 20 ad 40. He brought up his third fifty of the series with a ramp off Jamie Overton that went all the way.
Close to stumps, a third catch was dropped when Crawley grassed a regulation chance offered by Sudharsan at third slip.
Before that, England were bowled out in the final session following Harry Brook’s belligerent 53 off 64 balls. The highlight of his effort was a falling sweep off Siraj that went all the way for six.
In the afternoon session, Siraj struck thrice in a fiery eight over spell. At tea, England were 215 for seven, effectively eight down with Chris Woakes not available to bat due to a shoulder injury.
The wickets to fall were England’s batting mainstay Joe Root (29), Crawley, stand-in captain Ollie Pope (22) and Jacob Bethell (6).
A heated exchange of words between Root and Prasidh was also among the talking points of the session.
After being blown away by the England opener in the opening session, Indian pacers found their lengths post the break. Prasidh sent back Crawley who mistimed a pull to be pouched at midwicket.
Siraj got rid of Pope and Root with a nip backer before firing an inswinging yorker into Bethell’s pads. The pitch continues to provide plenty of assistance to the seamers.
Whether it was targeting the pads with the wobbled seam or producing late swing, Siraj was relentless, displaying that he was not a firm believer of workload management.
Prasidh too was impressive and struck thrice in the session including the wickets of Jamie Smith and Overton at the stroke of tea.
In the morning passage, Crawley and Duckett smashed the Indian pacers with absolute disdain on a seaming surface after bundling out the visitors for 224 in the first half hour of play. Duckett and Crawley hit boundaries for fun on a green surface where Atkinson took a deserving wicket haul by removing three Indian batters shortly after play began. The hosts raced to 109 for one in 16 overs at lunch. The trio of Akash Deep, Siraj and Prasidh ran out of ideas against the onslaught from the England openers
Much to their relief, Duckett was caught behind 15 minutes before lunch attempting another reverse hit off Akash. It was unusual to see Akash wrap his arm around Duckett and give him a send off with a smile on his face. (PTI)
SCOREBOARD
India 1st Innings: 224
England 1st Innings: 247
India 2nd Innings:
Yashasvi Jaiswal batting 51
KL Rahul c Root b Josh Tongue 7
S Sudharsan lbw b Atkinson 11
Akash Deep batting 4
Extras: 2 (LB-2)
Total (For 2 wkts) 75
Fall of wkts: 1-46, 2-70
Bowling:
Gus Atkinson 6-2-26-1
Josh Tongue 7-1-25-1
Jamie Overton 5-1-22-0
At Stumps on Day 2