England recover poise after Cook’s early dismissal

England 34 for 1 (Root 22*, Hameed 9*) trail India 455 (Kohli 167, Pujara 119, Ashwin 58, Moeen 3-98) by 421 runs Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Joe Root and Haseeb Hameed dug in after the early extraction of their captain, Alastair Cook, as England embarked on a long slow road towards parity in the second Test against India at Visakhapatnam. By tea on the second day, the pair had chiseled together a 30-run stand for the second wicket against a tight and threatening new-ball attack, in response to India’s first-innings 455.

The early signs in England’s innings were that India’s total, built upon Virat Kohli’s and Cheteshwar Pujara’s 226-run stand on the first afternoon, would take some matching. Hameed had ground his way to 9 from 43 balls at the break, showcasing once again a solid technique and an equally impressive temperament, while Root – a centurion at Rajkot last week – seemed to adapt his approach to counter the low skiddy bounce, at one stage advancing on Mohammad Shami to clip him aggressively through midwicket for four.

Given the success earlier in the day of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid, who had claimed five wickets between them to limit India’s advantage, India’s spinners will bring with them a different challenge as the innings progresses. Ravi Jadeja was given three exploratory overs before the interval, and nearly grubbed his way through Hameed’s defences with …

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