IndvsEng: Openers back to pavilion, England 87/2 at stumps

Visakhapatnam: Indian Cricket team is just eight wickets away from a win with England struggling 87/2 at stumps on Day 4 of the second Test of the five-match series at Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here on Sunday. England needs a big partnership if it wants to register itself for a record-chase.

Chasing a target of 405 runs, England openers Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed shared 75-runs partnership. Hameed (25) was the first going back to the dressing room and was followed by England skipper Cook (54)who was given leg before wicket to R Jadeja.

Earlier, it was the last wicket run-stand of 42 runs between debutant Jayant Yadav and Mohd. Shami which helped India set England a daunting target of 405 runs on a pitch having uneven bounce and turn. Indian Cricket team was bowled out for 204 runs in its 2nd innings.

Resuming the innings at 98/3, India yet again lost out-of-form Rahane at 26 runs. Skipper Kohli, however, continued his heroics before departing at a score of 81 runs. His knock was laced with eight boundaries. Other batsmen including Ashwin (7), Saha (2), Jadeja (14) and Umesh (0) also failed. Jayant and Shami stitched crucial 42-run partnership which helped India cross 200-run mark. Jayant scored unbeaten 27 runs while Shami was the last man to depart at a score 19 runs.

Earlier, India in its first innings, had scored 455 runs.

Also read: IndvsEng, 2nd Test: India sets 405-run target for England