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India Troubled By Ben Stokes' Fifer As Crawley, Duckett Put England Ahead On Day 2

Arnav Chopra

ENG vs IND (Source: @englandcricket/X.com)ENG vs IND (Source: @englandcricket/X.com)

In another hard-fought day, India and England played out a sea-saw battle on the second day of the fourth Test. By the end of the Day 2, England were 225/2 after 46 overs with Ollie Pope and Joe Root at the crease.

Here, we take a look at the highlights of Day 2 of the fourth Test match, as it panned out at the Old Trafford in Manchester on Thursday, July 24.

Rishabh Pant Bats With Broken Foot But Ben Stokes' Fifer Puts England In Command

After finishing day one on 264/4, Indian batters Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur resumed day two; however, the former lost his wicket early when India's score was 266, whereas Thakur played a crucial 41-run knock under pressure. The heads turned when the injured wicket-keeping batter Rishabh Pant, who broke his foot yesterday, came out all guns blazing and batted until the end to score 54 against the rampant English bowling lineup before being knocked over by Jofra Archer.

Washington Sundar scored 27 as India were bowled out for 358 in 114.1 overs, where English skipper Ben Stokes ran riot with the ball, picking a five-wicket haul in his 24 overs for 72 runs. Stokes bagged wickets off Sai Sudharsan, skipper Shubman Gill, Jadeja, Sundar, and debutant Anshul Kamboj, who got a duck.

Crawley, Duckett's 166-Run Opening Partnership Gives England Advantage On Day 2

In reply, England were way too solid to start off, as the opening duo of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett took the opportunity and thrashed the Indian bowlers left, right, and center with their solid technique and hard approach. However, after batting 32 overs, Crawley lost his wicket to spinner Ravindra Jadeja, edging one to slip, losing his wicket for 84 after stitching an outstanding 166-run opening stand with Duckett.

Sooner after, his opening partner Duckett, after scoring 94, edged one to keeper Dhruv Jurel as pacer Anshul Kamboj bagged his maiden wicket in Test cricket. Despite the two blows, England continued to bat till the end of the day where Ollie Pope and Joe Root kept their calm and saw England to 225/2 after 46 overs, trailing by 133 runs by the end of Day 2.