Visakhapatnam: Late strikes by Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed brought England back into the match even as Yasashvi Jaiswal’s highest Test score of 179 off 257 deliveries propelled India to 336 for 6 at the end of Day 1 of the second Test at Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here on Friday.
The England bowlers took three wickets in the final session to leave honours even on a pitch that hasn’t offered any great deal of turn so far while India added 111 runs in the last session of the day.
An unlucky dismissal for debutant Rajat Patidar, who looked in great touch, as Ahmed’s googly rolled back onto the stumps after hitting the bat. Patidar got out for 32 after he and Jaiswal, who struck 17 boundaries and five maximums in his unbeaten knock, added 70 runs for the fourth wicket and were looking set to put India in the driver’s seat.
With stumps just over six minutes away, wicketkeeper-batter K.S Bharat fell in much the same way as Axar Patel had a little while ago, giving Rehan Ahmed his second wicket. While Axar had scored 27 runs, Bharat made an enterprising 17. When play was called off for the day, Jaiswal was batting on 179 with Ravichandran Ashwin keeping him company at five.
A late strike in the day brought the visitors back into the game. India will be particularly disappointed with how they lost wickets No. 5 and 6 as Axar Patel fell to Bashir at backward point trying to square-cut the delivery.
Jaiswal batted through the 93 overs, showing a precocious variety of Test-match gears to finish unbeaten on 179, his second Test hundred and his second big hundred too — his previous best was a lovely, unhurried 171 on debut in Dominica against West Indies. India lost two quick wickets, Axar Patel fell to Bashir and K.S Bharat caught at backward point to Ahmed while failing to keep the square cut down.
James Anderson, who played a big role in keeping India honest, dismissed Shubman Gill for the fifth time in Tests while going at just 1.76 across 17 overs. The star of the day though was Jaiswal as he cruised to an unbeaten 179 at a fair clip, showing a good balance between defence and attack.
Brief scores:
India 336/6 in 93 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 179 not out, Shubman Gill 34; Rehan Ahmed 2-61, Shoaib Bashir 2-100) against England.
–IANS
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