India turn the screw as England slide towards defeat

England 255 (Stokes 70, Bairstow 53, Root 53, Ashwin 5-67) and 142 for 7 (Bairstow 23*, Ansari 0*) need another 263 runs to beat India 455 and 204 (Kohli 81, Broad 4-33, Rashid 4-82) Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

India’s bowlers took five giant leaps towards victory on the fifth and final morning of the second Test, as England’s resolve was finally cracked in a frantic session at Visakhapatnam. By lunch, they had slumped from their overnight 87 for 2 to 142 for 7, with only pride left to play for as Jonny Bairstow, on 23 not out, manned the pumps with the tail for company.

Joe Root, once again, had been England’s most assured technician on a surface that still wasn’t spinning dramatically, but was skidding through at a hustly pace that matched India’s turbo-charged over-rate – they bowled 33.4 in the morning, including an extraordinary ten in the first half-hour as Ravi Jadeja and R Ashwin tied England in knots at a rate of knots. But, having survived an early reprieve when Virat Kohli spilled a sharp chance at leg slip, Root was eventually undone by the second new ball – pinned on the crease by a zippy nipbacker from Mohammad Shami to depart for 25 from 107 balls.

The devastating dismissal of Alastair Cook, …

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