India bounce back, beat England in Visakhapatnam; five-Test series leveled
India bounced back from a painful defeat in Hyderabad by beating England in the 2nd Test in Visakhapatnam. The Rohit Sharma-led side successfully defended 398, bowling out the visitors for 292. Earlier, Shubman Gill's splendid ton took the lead past 350. Yashasvi Jaiswal's resounding double-ton and a six-fer from Jasprit Bumrah were the highlights. Notably, the hosts leveled the two-match series 1-1.
A look at the match summary
India compiled 396, riding on Jaiswal's historic double-century. James Anderson, Shoaib Bashir, and Rehan Ahmed took three wickets each. England perished for 253, with Bumrah demolishing them. Gill's heroics then powered India (255), who set up a 399-run target. Tom Hartley took four wickets. Zak Crawley fueled England's run-chase, while a 50+ partnership between Ben Foakes and Hartley inspired hope. However, England fell short.
A pace-bowling exhibition from Bumrah
Bumrah was the pick of India's bowlers on Day 2. He worked his magic by setting up Joe Root once again. His in-swinging yorker that knocked over Ollie Pope took the cricket fraternity by storm. The speedster was breathing fire when he forced Jonny Bairstow play a loose shot. Eventually, he removed Ben Stokes, Tom Hartley and Anderson. He took 6/45 in 15.5 overs.
Second Test fifer on home soil
This was Bumrah's 10th five-wicket haul and second at home. It was his third Test fifer against England. As per Cricket.com, Bumrah's 6/45 is the best bowling figures for an Indian pacer in a home Test match since 2000. Veteran pacer Umesh Yadav trails him in this regard with his 6/88 against West Indies in 2018 in Hyderabad.
Fastest Indian pacer to 150 Test wickets
During the innings, Bumrah also completed 150 wickets in Test cricket (34 games). Bumrah is the fastest Indian pacer to accomplish the mark. He broke the record of Kapil Dev, who took 39 matches. While Erapalli Prasanna and Anil Kumble also took 34 Tests apiece, Ashwin (29) and Ravindra Jadeja (32) are the only Indians to reach the milestone faster than Bumrah.
An innings-defining double-ton from Jaiswal
Jaiswal started cautiously early on Day 1 only to switch back to his aggressive mode in the afternoon. Jaiswal recorded 50-plus stands with Shreyas Iyer, Rajat Patidar, and Axar Patel en route to his knock. While he returned on 179* on Day 1, he completed his double-ton the next day, as India went past 380. Anderson eventually dismissed him.
Jaiswal gets these feats
Jaiswal became the third-youngest Indian batter to slam a double-ton in Tests. At the age of 22 years and 37 days, the southpaw is only behind Vinod Kambli (21y 32d) and Sunil Gavaskar (21y 277d). Moreover, Jaiswal became only the second Indian opener to slam a Test double-ton against England. He has joined Gavaskar, who made 221 in the 1979 Oval Test.
Most runs in a day's play for India against England
The 22-year-old Jaiswal was India's main performer on Day 1, returning unbeaten on 179. As per Cricbuzz, he has scored the joint-second-most runs in a day's play for India against England. He is tied with the legendary Gavaskar, who also scored 179 at the Oval in 1979, while Karun Nair is ahead of them with 232 runs in Chennai, 2016.
First Indian opener with this record
As per Cricket.com, Jaiswal has become the first Indian opener to slam 200-plus against England since 2000. Only Gautam Gambhir (179 in Mohali, 2008) and Rohit Sharma (161 in Chennai, 2021) are the others with 150-plus scores as openers.
Gill slams his third Test ton
Gill finally ended his run-drought with a splendid ton on Day 3. He came to the middle after Anderson knocked over Rohit. While Jaiswal also followed Rohit, the likes of Gill and Iyer propelled India past 100. Quick dismissals of Iyer and Patidar exposed Axar out there. Gill reached his third Test century off just 132 balls. He smashed a 147-ball 104.
10 international tons before turning 25
Gill now has 10 centuries in international cricket, with six of them coming in ODI cricket. His tally includes a T20I century. As per Bharath Seervi, Gill has become the third Indian to score 10+ centuries across formats before turning 25. Sachin Tendulkar (30 centuries in 273 innings) and Virat Kohli (21 centuries in 163 innings) are the others.
A second-inning four-fer for Hartley
England spinner Tom Hartley continues to make a mark in his debut international series. After taking a match-winning seven-wicket haul in the Hyderabad, Hartley impressed with his second-inning exploits in Vizag. The 24-year-old was the pick of England's bowlers in the second innings, having bowled 27 overs. He took four wickets for 77 runs, including three maidens.
Third England spinner with this feat
According to Andy Zaltzman, Hartley is the third England spinner with four-plus wickets in an innings in both their first and second Tests since World War 1. Nick Cook (vs NZ, 1983) and James Tredwell (vs Ban, 2009-10 and WI, 2014-15) are the others.
Flying starts from Crawley
Crawley gave England flying starts in both the innings. He was England's top scorer in the first innings. He smoked a stunning 76 off 78 balls with the help of 11 boundaries and two sixes. He also completed 6,000 First-Class runs during his stay. Crawley slammed a 132-ball 73 in the second innings (8 fours and 1 six). He now has 12 Test half-centuries.
A look at the key battles
As per ESPNcricinfo, Anderson has now dismissed Gill five times in seven Test meetings. England opener Crawley was at his dominant best before falling to Axar in the first innings. This was the fourth time he had fallen to the Indian left-arm spinner in Tests. Indian pacer Bumrah has dismissed Root eight times in Test cricket.
Most Test wickets for India against England
Ashwin entered the record books after dismissing Pope in the second innings. The Indian spinner surpassed BS Chandrasekhar to become India's highest wicket-taker against England in Test cricket. The latter took 95 wickets in this regard. While Ashwin leads this tally with over 95 scalps, Anil Kumble is the only other Indian to have taken more than 90 Test wickets against England.
Root completes 1,000 Test runs on Indian soil
England batter Joe Root returned scores of 5 and 16 in the match. However, he unlocked another Test achievement in the second innings. Root has become only the fifth visiting batter with over 1,000 runs (1,004) on Indian soil in Test cricket. Clive Lloyd (1,359), Alastair Cook (1,235), Gordon Greenidge (1,042), and Matthew Hayden (1,027) are the others with this record.
The Foakes-Hartley partnership; 1,000 Test runs for Foakes
The departure of England captain Stokes left England tottering on 220/7. However, Ben Foakes and and Hartley kept the tourists alive with a 55-run stand. The former smashed a defiant 69-run 36 (4 fours and 1 six). As a result, Foakes completed 1,000 runs in Test cricket. The English wicket-keeper averages 30.72 in the format. He owns over 700 Test runs overseas.
