05 February 2024 , 08:45
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The fact England fans believed they could do it shows the power of the Ben Stokes-Bazball era, but in the end they came up well short against a quality India side.
England resumed on 67-1, in pursuit of a mammoth 399 to win on day four in Visakhapatnam. And while Zak Crawley was at the crease, the near-miracle run chase did not look out of the question. The England opener was in supreme touch, smashing some eye-catching drives to the boundary off first-innings tormentor Jasprit Bumrah to threaten the hosts.
Crawley made 73 but was unable to push on and India chipped away at the wickets, with every England batter getting in, but none able to compile a score which could propel them on. In the end, they were bowled out for 292, as India levelled the series at 1-1 with a 106-run win.
Rehan Ahmed, elevated on day three in the Stuart Broad-patented nighthawk position, whacked a few boundaries before he was pinned lbw by Axar Patel for 23. Hero of Hyderabad Ollie Pope (23) looked in good touch until Rohit Sharma produced a stunning reaction catch at slip to dismiss him and trigger the slow but steady collapse.
Joe Root was in a rush, getting off the mark with a reverse-sweep, before he slogged Ravichandran Ashwin up in the air for 16 off just 10 balls. Crawley was then pinned lbw on review to one that kept low from Kuldeep Yadav and Jonny Bairstow was undone by Bumrah to leave England reeling on 194-6.
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Any semblance of a chance faded when Ben Stokes was uncharacteristically run out by Shreyas Iyer while dawdling through for a single. Ben Foakes (36) put up resistance in a strong partnership with Tom Hartley, before Bumrah showed his white-ball skills to dismiss him caught-and-bowled with a genius slower ball.
There were no heroics from Shoaib Bashir, who edged forgotten man Mukesh Kumar behind and Hartley was castled by Bumrah (3-46) shortly after to end it.
England captain Ben Stokes was run out (Stu Forster/Getty Images)It was a valiant effort by England, who played some good cricket over the four days and are right in this series. The one criticism is that none of their batters went on to make a match-defining knock, like Pope did in their win in Hyderabad.
Crawley looked in fabulous nick in both innings, making 76 and 73, but was unable to push on and make a century, while Yashasvi Jaiswal's 209 in the first innings and Shubman Gill's 104 in the second innings made all the difference.
There is now a 10-day break until the third Test starts in Rajkot on February 15. England will rest, regroup and go again, confident they have what it takes to do what Sir Alastair Cook's side did back in 2012.