New Delhi: Mohammed Siraj produced a sensational bowling performance to breathe some life into India’s chances in another exhilarating session on Day 2 at the Oval, London. After a brisk opening stand of 92 runs between Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, England were cruising towards India’s first-innings total of 224 before Prasidh Krishna got rid of Crawley early in the second session.
Then came Siraj, who wreaked havoc with the ball, trapping Ollie Pope (22), Joe Root (29), and Jacob Bethell (6) in quick succession to ignite belief in the Indian team.
It was a bowling masterclass from Siraj, who attacked the stumps and surprised the English batters with his pace and lengths. Both Pope and Root were undone by the sharp inward movement and zip off the pitch, while Bethell was deceived by an inswinging yorker. Moments later, Krishna struck twice in an over, removing the dangerous Jamie Smith (8) and Jamie Overton (0_ on the stroke of Tea to leave England at 215 for 7, just 9 runs behind India.
As many as 106 runs were scored in 26.5 overs in the second session, which witnessed a mini-collapse as England lost 6 wickets.
As opposed to the first session, where England scored 108 runs in 16 overs, the Indian seamers, according to a Cricbuzz stat, changed their lengths and bowled half a metre fuller on average, bowled more deliveries in the channel (59.8% to 62.3%) and had more balls hitting the stumps (5.1% to 13.9%), resulting in four LBWs. As a result, they were rewarded with 6/87 since lunch.
(More to follow)