IND vs ENG 2nd Test: England 194-6 at lunch on day 4, chasing record 399 to win

Ravichandran Ashwin (Pic: File Pic)

On the fourth day of the IND vs ENG 2nd Test, Zak Crawley made his second fifty, despite the hosts registering five important wickets. England are now reduced to 194 for the loss of six wickets at lunch on Monday.

England did not hold back in using their "Bazball" method and were attacking the Indian spinner to get the timely breakthroughs. Ben Stokes-led England team still somehow managed to make 127 runs.

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India's spin wizard Kuldeep Yadav picked the important wickets of Zak Crawley on 73 while lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah bagged the wicket of Jonny Bairstow on 26 runs at the stroke of lunch to deal a massive blow to England. The visitors still need 205 runs to win with four wickets in hand.

Crawley was by far the best batter on show, mixing caution and aggression perfectly before being adjudged lbw off Kuldeep with a close DRS call.

On the sixth ball of his first over, Kuldeep got one to turn back in from middle stump. It seemed the ball was going down leg but DRS showed that it was hitting the middle of the leg-stump.

Skipper Ben Stokes is yet to face a ball in England's second innings of the IND vs ENG 2nd Test. India's standout bowler in the game, Bumrah, bowled his heart out in the two-hour session. For someone who has been operating in four-over spells, Bumrah bowled one extra in his opening burst before returning towards the end of the session to send back Bairstow.

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The variable bounce is coming into play but the pitch remains decent for batting. While Crawley was measured in his approach, the likes of Root and Pope perished while going for their strokes. Root, in particular, would be disappointed with his effort as he danced down the track and went for a wild slog without getting to the pitch of the ball to be caught at short third man, giving Ashwin his 499th wicket. Ashwin now has registered three wickets in the fourth innings of the IND vs ENG 2nd Test.

While Axar Patel found Rehan's pads with a straighter one, Pope offered a sharp catch to Rohit Sharma at first slip off Ashwin and the Indian skipper made no mistake in pouching it.

(With PTI Inputs)