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A third day of one-way traffic in this second trial saw Ravichandran Ashwin send the crowd from his hometown positively gaga, compiling the sweetest of centuries before India began what has become an inevitable march towards a score of 1-1.
Only the bitterest of sleep-deprived England fans watching from home in the UK could envy Ashwin for his moment in the sun after tea, when a skewed edge of Moeen Ali got away well to pull three figures and spark celebrations. savages at Chepauk Stadium. .
Here was a son from Tamil Nadu who also made an indelible mark on this second test in Chennai. Having claimed five of 43 during England’s woeful 134 in his opening innings, Ashwin became the first all-rounder since Garfield Sobers in 1966 at Headingley to compile a century against them in the same match.
It was the third time Ashwin achieved this special double in test cricket, only Ian Botham, at five, did more, and when Olly Stone finally turned off his 106, cutting briefly to suck life out of the ground. , India had 286 points for England to win 482.
By stumps, the tourists had limped up to 53 for three of 19 jumps in panic, their only consolation coming from the knowledge that entering the third round of the pink ball next week at Ahmedabad All Square was a multi-handed situation out to accomplish at the start of this two month tour.
Ashwin inevitably struck during a late passage of the game that saw England’s batters caged and fighting for air, leading to a lead for Rory Burns’ second slip at 25. It came between Dom Sibley’s eliminations of Axar Patel in three and night watchman Jack Leach, and could easily have been followed for a second in the finale before the stumps when Joe Root survived a shout from lbw.
Virat Kohli was not impressed when his review was overturned here, Root was saved by the referee’s call on impact. But the India captain returned to the locker room knowing it would be simply a matter of time on this tricky (but not insurmountable) Chennai course before parity was achieved.
England was already looking at defeat when Ashwin came out to the 106 fold at six in the morning. The lead had just passed 300 and Kohli was looking to not just tackle his first-inning duck, but to understand the debate surrounding the surface and put it in a blender.
While Kohli certainly accomplished this, creating a typically bristly 62, Ashwin further hit the point through a combination of solid defense, smart sweeps, and some dominant direct Stuart Broad largely neutralized. His tennis-style crush on Stone to bring out his half century was ingenious; his work swept six of Moeen to 97 simply imperious.
It was not without luck. Ashwin was brought down by Ben Stokes at 56, the first slip perhaps unseen by Ben Foakes facing Broad, while the England wicketkeeper also missed a tough catch below the edge at 71. But Ashwin didn’t look back, advancing for the loss of Kohli, lbw to Moeen, ordering the queue wisely on the way to his fifth century of trial and perhaps his most memorable.
Foakes had ignited proceedings early in the morning when Root’s men hit three times for just 11 runs, the goalkeeper involved in all three layoffs to once again show off the velvet gloves and attract online praise from the greats of the past that included Kiran More, Adam Gilchrist and Sarah Taylor. .
Resuming 54 for one, Chesteshwar Pujara was left without some clever work from Ollie Pope (number 3’s bat got stuck in the grass trying to make his ground) before Jack Leach profited from two Foakes mercury stumps which they removed Rohit Sharma for 26 and the promoted Rishabh Pant for eight.
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With one already in the first inning, Foakes had become the first English wicketkeeper since Alan Knott in 1968 to score three in a match and when Pope continued his good work in the short section to eliminate Ajinkya Rahane, a first wicket for Moeen during improved figures of four by 98 from 32 overs – India was suddenly 86 by five.
However, the lead was an impressive 281 races at this stage, and although Axar Patel fell lbw to Moeen shortly after, Kohli was already underway. Swapping out the cap he wore on the first day for a helmet, he carefully scooped 20 balls to remove a pair before he and Ashwin set out to bend the narrative firmly into what has been three days of Indian dominance.
