On Day 2 of the fourth Test in Manchester, England delivered a robust all-round performance, spearheaded by Ben Stokes’ impressive five-wicket haul and a swift opening partnership of 166 runs between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. Despite battling through injury, Rishabh Pant managed to secure a determined fifty, receiving assistance from Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar, as India increased their overnight score by 94 runs before ultimately being dismissed for 358.
England’s response was both swift and authoritative, although both openers were dismissed late in the day – Duckett for 94 and Crawley for 84 – with the home side finishing the day at 225/2, having scored at an impressive rate of 4.89.
India sets up a 350+ target for England
Equipped with the second new ball at the beginning of the day, Jofra Archer dismissed Jadeja; however, India succeeded in extending their total beyond 300, thanks to a partnership of 48 runs between Thakur and Washington. This partnership concluded when Thakur edged a delivery from Stokes to gully, departing for 41 runs. Washington, who had taken his time to acclimatize, scoring his first run after 19 balls, brought up India’s 300 with an edged boundary.
The session’s highlight was the return of Pant, who had retired hurt on Day 1 after scoring 37 due to a foot injury. He was greeted with a standing ovation and, despite struggling to run, he remained at the crease alongside Washington, as India reached 321/6 at Lunch, accumulating 57 runs off 23 overs during the session. Following Lunch, India lost wickets rapidly, with Stokes ending Washington’s innings by having him caught at fine leg while attempting a pull shot. Kamboj was dismissed for a duck, caught behind off Stokes, marking the England captain’s first five-wicket haul since September 2017.
Pant continued to battle, hitting a six off Archer and a four off Stokes, reaching a fifty off 69 balls. Nevertheless, he was dismissed shortly thereafter, bowled by a stunning delivery from Archer. Bumrah then edged an Archer delivery for a four, pushing India past 350, and Siraj struck a boundary over Stokes’ head. Ultimately, India’s innings concluded as Bumrah was caught behind while attempting a pull shot, with Root persuading his captain to opt for a review, as the visitors lost four wickets for just 37 runs in 9.1 overs after Lunch.
England display their bazball approach
Jasprit Bumrah kept Crawley alert at the beginning of England’s innings with a combination of deliveries that moved both away and in. However, debutant Anshul Kamboj had a costly introduction while sharing the new ball, allowing three fours as he aimed for Duckett’s pads. The left-handed batsman also capitalized on Bumrah’s deliveries directed at his pads for boundaries, while Crawley glanced a delivery from Mohammed Siraj for his initial four. He subsequently played an elegant shot through cover for another boundary, enabling England to start positively, taking advantage of loose deliveries to surpass 50 runs in the 11th over.
Crawley, who was outscored by Duckett, found his rhythm with two consecutive fours off Siraj and also survived a review from India after he let a delivery go, with replays indicating that the ball would have gone over the stumps. Kamboj returned to bowl and was flicked for a four by Duckett, while Crawley executed a splendid drive past mid-on for a four off Siraj. Duckett was on 43 and Crawley on 33 as both returned unbeaten at Tea, having reduced the deficit to 281 runs.
Thakur, who bowled the opening over of the final session, discovered some movement and managed to get Crawley to edge the ball, but it eluded gully and resulted in a four. Meanwhile, Crawley played a couple of impressive shots, scoring fours off both Bumrah and Thakur. Duckett then reached a fifty off 46 balls before driving a Thakur delivery through cover for another four, pushing England past 100 runs in the 19th over. Shortly after, Crawley achieved a fifty off 73 balls with a four off Thakur and embarked on a boundary-hitting spree, hitting two fours in another over off Thakur, followed by a six and a four off Ravindra Jadeja in the spinner’s first over.
The partnership eventually concluded as Jadeja managed to turn one away from Crawley, resulting in an edge that KL Rahul caught sharply at first slip. Duckett, however, continued his aggressive play, targeting Siraj for a series of boundaries as he approached the 90s. Unfortunately, he fell six runs short of a century, edging to the wicketkeeper while attempting a cut shot, thus granting Kamboj his first Test wicket.
However, the inconsistency of India’s debutant showed as he leaked more boundaries with Ollie Pope and Joe Root taking England past 200. India were interested for a bit when Bumrah got one to jag back into Root but ultimately decided not to review. Root played a nice straight drive for a four off Kamboj while Pope saw through the final over of the day from Bumrah, and even struck a four.
SCORECARD: India 358 (Sai Sudharsan 61, Yashasvi Jaiswal 58, Rishabh Pant 54; Ben Stokes 5-72, Jofra Archer 3-73) lead England 225/2 (Ben Duckett 94, Zak Crawley 84; Ravindra Jadeja 1-37, Anshul Kamboj 1-48) by 133 runs.
