Manchester, July 25 (IANS) Half centuries from Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley have put England in a commanding position after skipper Ben Stokes took his first five-wicket haul in eight years on day two of fourth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Old Trafford on Thursday.

At stumps, England reached 225/2 in 46 overs and trail India by 133 runs. Stokes’ 5-72 helped England bowl out India for 358 – with Rishabh Pant coming out to bat and making a courageous 54 despite a fractured right foot – a knock that will be remembered for ages to come. Pant had retired hurt on 37, but his sheer willpower got him back at the crease – adding 17 more runs and ensuring India crossed 350-mark.

Duckett (94) and Crawley (84) then put on a superb opening partnership of 166 off 195 balls to rattle India – falling before reaching their respective centuries. But with Joe Root and Ollie Pope unbeaten on 11 and 20 respectively, England will be confident to get a big score and take a first innings lead.

In the morning, Jofra Archer continuously found Jadeja’s outside edge before eventually getting the left-hander to nick behind and Brook at second slip took the catch, as he fell for 20. Thakur and Washington Sundar managed to survive a tough examination from England’s bowlers to stitch a 48-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Thakur was proficient in hitting three boundaries while making 41 off 88 balls before his resistance was finally broken when he was drawn into a drive off Stokes and edged to a diving Duckett at gully. His dismissal brought an injured Pant onto the crease amidst rapturous applause from the spectators.

The visuals of him taking the support of railings to come out to bat and Shardul Thakur giving him a little pat on the head before stepping on to the field showed the desire to fight through the pain and contribute to his team’s cause.

Though Pant hobbled to complete his singles and run between the wickets, he then had to make the long walk back to the pavilion with Sundar, leaving the cricketing world astounded and in awe of his warrior-like spirit, as rain caused for early lunch to be taken.

The second session began with Sundar getting a healthy edge off Stokes for four, before he hooked a short ball from Chris Woakes to deep fine leg and fall for 27 off 90 balls. Stokes completed his first five-wicket haul in eight years when his outswinger took an edge of Kamboj’s bat and was caught safely by Jamie Smith.

Pant finally got the timing right when he nailed a pull off Archer for six and reached his 18th Test fifty in 69 balls by reaching out to Stokes’ wide ball and sent it cracking through cover for four. But for the second consecutive time, Archer sent Pant’s off-stump on a cartwheel ride, as hit gutsy knock came to an end at 54 off 75 balls and received rousing reception from the spectators.

Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah hanged around to hit a boundary each, before the latter swung a leg-side delivery off Archer and the ball was caught by Smith. After Root persuaded to go for a review, that proved to be a shrewd move as a nick was detected and resulted in India’s innings coming to an end, with Archer taking 3-75.

Questions were around how the Indian bowlers would make use of bowler-friendly conditions, but Crawley and Duckett came out all guns blazing by feasting on the inconsistent lines and lengths from the tourists’ bowling line-up, who didn’t make much use of bouncers too.

Duckett laid the platform for England by hitting four boundaries off debutant Anshul Kamboj, before glancing Jasprit Bumrah for three boundaries. While Duckett has feasted on anything on his legs, Crawley took a liking to Mohammed Siraj’s freebies and hit three boundaries. The duo would take a four each off Siraj and Kamboj to ensure England hit a great punch till tea break came.

The final session started with Crawley thumping three boundaries, before he and Duckett reached their fifties in 73 and 46 balls respectively. Despite Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja brought into the bowling attack, there was no stopping boundaries as Crawley continued to play his shots with immaculate ease.

India finally had a breakthrough on the last ball of the 32nd over when Crawley edged a turning ball from Jadeja and KL Rahul took a low catch at first slip, as he fell for 84 off 13 balls. Duckett also smacked three boundaries off Mohammed Siraj, before missing his century when he chased a short and wide delivery from Anshul Kamboj and nicked behind to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel to give the pacer his first Test wicket.

Root and Pope then took the watchful route, with the former surviving an lbw appeal off Jasprit Bumrah due to the ball’s impact being outside of stumps. The duo ensured that England didn’t lose any more wickets in the last 30 minutes before the day’s play ended in their favour.

Brief Scores: India 358 in 114.1 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 61, Yashasvi Jaiswal 58; Ben Stokes 5-72, Jofra Archer 3-73) lead England 225/2 in 46 overs (Ben Duckett 94 not out, Zak Crawley 84; Ravindra Jadeja 1-37, Anshul Kamboj 1-48) by 133 runs

–IANS

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