Cook and Hameed fight as India set imposing target of 405

England 255 (Stokes 70, Bairstow 53, Root 53, Ashwin 5-67) and 40 for 0 (Cook 28*, Hameed 12*) need another 365 runs to beat India 455 and 204 (Kohli 81, Broad 4-33, Rashid 4-82) Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

So far, so steady for Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed, as England’s unlikely bid for survival in the second Test was given a confident start on the fourth afternoon at Visakhapatnam. By tea, the openers had nibbled 40 runs out of an imposing and improbable victory target of 405, but more importantly, they had soaked up 28 overs without being parted to keep India waiting to reassert their authority.

If there is a template for England’s approach in the remaining four sessions of this contest then, on the evidence of the team’s two most stoic crease-occupiers, it is the one laid out by South Africa at Delhi on their own tour of India 12 months ago. On that occasion, instead of having a tilt at a distant target of 481, AB de Villiers (43 from 297 balls) and Hashim Amla (25 from 244) set their sights on blocking out five sessions, and came improbably close to doing so.

So, one down, four to go for England, and solidity is so far their watchword. Cook, a specialist both of Asian conditions and of taking time out of Test-match innings, was 28 not out from 84 balls at the break, his big long strides smothering the close attentions of India’s spinners, who beat the bat on occasions but for the most part were thwarted on a surface that would be offering plenty if England were interested in run-scoring, but is still true enough to reward determination.

At the other end, Hameed – for the fourth innings in a row since his debut at Rajkot – was giving every impression that he is The One, as far as England’s …

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