VISAKHAPATNAM: Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow struck defiant half-centuries but India continued to choke the England batting on the third day of the second Test in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.
Fast bowler Umesh Yadav bowled out Bairstow (53) just two overs before the end of the first session to halt England's recovery and leave the visitors on 191 for six at lunch.
Overnight batsman Ben Stokes was batting on 55 with Adil Rashid on one at the break as the visitors still trailed by 264 runs in the first innings.
Stokes and Bairstow showed tremendous application during their 110-run partnership which helped England improve their position from the overnight 103 for five.
But just when it seemed the duo would play out the session, Umesh Yadav got a fuller ball to get through the defence of Bairstow, who started the day on 12.
The left-right batting combination of Stokes and Bairstow tackled the Indian bowling with a positive mindset, hitting 13 boundaries between them.
Stokes though survived a stumping chance on 21 when wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha failed to collect the ball cleanly off Ravichandran Ashwin while the batsman's foot was dragged out.
The all-rounder went on to record his eighth Test fifty, forcing Indian skipper Virat Kohli to rotate his bowlers from either end.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Bairstow also completed his half-century with a boundary against Ravindra Jadeja as the sixth-wicket partnership crossed the 100-run mark.
England's batting show in the morning session was a welcome change from their struggle against spin on day two when they were reduced to 80 for five in response to India's 455.
Ashwin, who led the charge with two wickets on Friday, saw no success as the hosts worked hard for their only wicket of the session.
The visitors, who drew the first Test in Rajkot, still require another 65 runs to avoid the follow-on with four wickets in hand.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.