England vs India 2018, 3rd Test, Day 2: Hardik Pandya's Five-For Puts India Ahead

India stormed their way back into the five-match Test series against England, as they finished day two of the 3^rd Test at Trent Bridge against England on a high note.

Yes, you heard it right. India had just completed a couple of days in Nottingham game, and they are already in a situation where they are bossing the game. It was mostly possible due to a splendid piece of fast bowling from Hardik Pandya. Pandya was under pressure ahead of this match, and he returned with his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests.

However, the India top-order responded quite brilliantly in the 2^nd essay to take them into a commanding position. At the end of the day’s play, India finished with an overall lead of 292 runs against England.

Earlier, India began the day’s play on 307/6. Rishabh Pant and Ravichandran Ashwin started the proceedings. Ashwin struck three streaky boundaries, whereas, Pant also left the ball well outside the off stump.

However, Pant’s first false shot brought about his downfall. From there on, the Indian tail was wiped away by Broad and Anderson. From 323/6, the visitors lost their last four wickets for just six runs and were bowled out for 329 runs. The Indian bowlers didn’t begin well and bowled too short in the 2^nd hour of the opening session.

The English openers Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings finished on 46 at lunch. However, the visitors made a sensational comeback in the 2^nd session. They bowled in the right areas and kept on chipping away with the wickets. It was Ishant Sharma who provided the maiden breakthrough in the form of Cook’s wicket. Jasprit Bumrah added the wicket of Cook’s partner Keaton Jennings in the very next over.

The wicket of Ollie Pope went to Ishant Sharma, as he tried to play a leg-side delivery. However, the central drama was yet to unfold from India’s point of view. The match turned on its head with the introduction of Hardik Pandya. The medium pacer bagged the prized wicket of England captain Joe Root on the very first delivery of his spell.

Hardik added the wicket of Jonny Bairstow in no time with a full-length delivery. It was carnage with the ball from Hardik, as he registered his maiden five-wicket haul. In the meanwhile, Pandya dismissed Chris Woakes with a short delivery while full-length deliveries brought about the downfall of Adil Rashid and Stuart Broad. Jos Buttler smashed a few lusty blows to take England to 161. Still, India got to a healthy lead of 168 runs.

India needed to finish the day well to put them in a commanding position, and it was exactly what they did in the final session. Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul began splendidly. KL Rahul, in particular, struck some excellent shots to get going. On the other hand, Dhawan edged a few but spent some quality time in the crease before he started smashing the boundaries.

He looked in great touch and shared a good partnership of 60 runs with Rahul. Ben Stokes dismissed the latter. However, by then India had got off to a great start. Cheteshwar Pujara joined Dhawan and struck some fours, to begin with. It was not a Pujara knock, as he had a strike rate of more than 100 at one stage.

Dhawan and Pujara shared a 51-run stand before the southpaw fell to Adil Rashid. It was a brilliant wrong-un by the leg-spinner which brought about his downfall. India eventually finished on with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara at the crease. England would like to put the pressure back on India on day three.

Brief Scores

India 1^st innings 329 all-out in 94.5 overs (Virat Kohli 97, Ajinkya Rahane 81, James Anderson 3/64, Stuart Broad 3/72, Chris Woakes 3/75)

England 161 all-out in 38.2 overs (Jos Buttler 39, Hardik Pandya 5/28, Ishant Sharma 2/32, Jasprit Bumrah 2/37)

India 2^nd innings 124/2 in 31 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 44, KL Rahul 36)

India lead by 292 runs.