India vs England 5th Test, Day 2: India off balance, reeling 174/6 at stumps

Image Courtesy: Twitter/@ICC

After a remarkable first Day, India let it slip on Day 2. The Indian bowlers went past the English bats umpteen times but the lower-order annoyed India and added 134 runs to their overnight score. Jos Buttler's 133-ball 89 steered England to a competitive score of 332/10. In response, James Anderson (2/20) and Ben Stokes (2/44) reduced India to 174/6 at stumps on Day two of the fifth Test at Kennington Oval, London. 

Here are the highlights from Day 2:    

# India 174/6 after 51 overs, trail by 158 runs. 

# Stumps!!

# Ravindra Jadeja is in at number eight!

# India 160/6!

# Wicket!! Stokes pitches it up, Pant opens his shoulders,  plays across and edges a catch to Alastair Cook at first-slip.  

# Just when India looked like settling in, Stokes gets the better of Virat Kohli (49). Hanuma Vihari, batting at 23, and Rishabh Pant need to stick around till the end of day's play. A wicket or two at this stage could trigger a collapse. Cautious period for India ahead. 

# Rishabh Pant is in at number seven. 

# India 154/5, trail by 178 runs!

# Wicket!! Skipper Kohli nudges Ben Stokes' off-stump delivery and hands a catch to his counterpart Joe Root at second-slip. India five down now. 

# Debutant Hanuma Vihari is in at number six. 

# India 103/4!

# Wicket!! Anderson strikes again! He keeps things simple, channels the ball around the off-stump and Rahane flashes hard to edge a regulation catch to Alastair Cook at first slip. Rahane goes for a duck. India in trouble. 

# India 101/3!

# Wicket!! James Anderson breaks the jinx. He moves the ball away from Pujara, who pushes an edge to Bairstow. Pujara, who had just started to rotate the strike, departs for 37 off 101 balls. 

# India 101/2 after 32 overs, trail by 231 runs! 

# James Anderson nearly had Virat Kohli with an in-swinger but the latter survived. Kohli has spent some time in the middle now but still keeps nudging the odd outswinger. This Test has seen many plays and misses but the none with an edge. Mohammed Shami bowled exceptionally well but went wicketless and it seems like it is James Anderson's time to toil hard. Pujara, meanwhile, has played over 90 balls and continues to take it slow. India would want Pujara to hang around at least till the end of day's play. This dead rubber is turning into a cracker of a match. 

# Virat Kohli is in at number four. 

# India 70/2! 

# Wicket!! Sam Curran strikes. He bowls a full-length stunner to knock KL Rahul's off-stump. What a delivery! Rahul departs for a 53-ball 37. India lose their second wicket. 

# Play resumes!

# India 53/1 after 18 overs, trail by 279 runs

# Tea-break

# While Pujara is happy to bid his time in the middle, KL Rahul has switched gears and accelerating with an ODI-like strike rate. The duo survived the nervy first-spell and got India off to a decent start. The English skipper, meanwhile, makes an attacking change as he brings Moeen Ali into the attack.  India 43/1 after 15 overs. 

# Cheteshwar Pujara is in at number three. 

# India 6/1 after 2 overs. 

# Wicket! Broad strikes early! The ball jacks back in to hit Dhawan on the front foot. Dhawan departs for three. 

# Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul open the innings for India!

# Innings break

# England 332/10 (Jos Buttler 89 (139), Alastair Cook 71 (190)  / Ishant Sharma 3-62, Jasprit Bumrah 3-83) 

# Wicket!! Jadeja tempts Buttler to drive but the latter edges the ball to Ajinkya Rahane at first-slip. India finally bowl out England but Buttler's 133-ball 89 has turned the match around in England's favour. 

# James Anderson is in at number 11. 

# England 312/9

# Wicket!! India finally make a breakthrough! Stuart Broad steps down in an attempt to sky Jadeja's pacy delivery but KL Rahul makes brilliant ground to take a stunning catch. Broad departs for a 59-ball 38. 

# England 304/8 (Jos Buttler 63 (104), Stuart Broad 36 (51)) 

#  It has been a frustrating first session for India. The bowlers went past the bat umpteen times but the English batsmen kept flashing their bats, annoying and denying India an all-out. 

# Lunch

# 300! England reach the 300-run mark and it seems like the match is slipping away from Virat Kohli and co. The Indian bowlers have had a great series but they have struggled against the English tail. Can India wrap up the English innings post Lunch? only time will tell. 

# England 278/8 after 109 overs. Click here for the detailed scorecard. 

# Half-century! Jos Buttler continues to score around the tail and brings up his 10th Test half-century. 

#  The England lower-order has now added 65 runs to their overnight score (198) and are threatening to bat out the first session. India have bowled brilliantly but are starting to leak runs, they are giving it (momentum) here as Virat Kohli cuts a frustrated figure. 

# Interestingly, Jos Buttler with 281 runs in 8 innings is England's highest run-scorer, in this series, but continues to bat at number 7. Buttler is also the second highest run-getter (overall) behind Virat Kohli (544 runs). 

# Stuart Broad is in at number 10.

# England 215/8!

# Wicket!! Bumrah makes the most of Adil Rashid's huge bat and pad gap and traps him in front. Rashid departs for 15 runs England 8 down. 

# England 207/7 after 95 overs. Click here for the detailed scorecard. 

# The Indian bowlers are once again up against the England tail without the dangerous Sam Curran. Jos Buttler, who has been playing around the English lower-order, will look to counter-attack and add as many runs as possible. Anything from here is bonus runs for England. 

Brief score: England 198/7 (90) (Alastair Cook 71, Moeen Ali 50 / Ishant Sharma 3-28)

English players kept the game steady for a while but India took charge after Tea as pacer Ishant Sharma took 3 wickets. 

The first day also witnessed veteran cricketer Alastair Cook's batting where he scored 71 runs. The ongoing Test is Cook's last match before he retires from international cricket. 

England's skipper Joe Root was sent-off for a duck and the dismissal triggered a collapse as the hosts were reduced from 133/3 to 181/7.

Playing XI: 

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

England: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Moeen Ali, Joe Root(c), Jonny Bairstow(w), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.