INDIA’S TOUR OF ENGLAND, 2025
Stokes completed a fifer on Day 2 to keep India to 358 in their first innings. © Getty
England had a strong all-round outing on Day 2 of the fourth Test in Manchester, led by Ben Stokes’ five-wicket haul and a rapid 166-run opening stand between Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett. A limping Rishabh Pant fought his way to a gritty fifty, with support from Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar, as India added 94 runs to their overnight total before folding for 358. England’s reply was brisk and commanding, though both openers fell late in the day – Duckett for 94 and Crawley for 84 – with the hosts closing on 225/2, having got their runs at a rate of 4.89.
Jasprit Bumrah kept Crawley on his toes at the start of England’s innings with a mix of away-going and incoming deliveries. But debutant Anshul Kamboj had an expensive start sharing the new ball, conceding three fours as he tried to target Duckett’s pads. The left-hander also put away Bumrah deliveries on the pads for boundaries while Crawley glanced one from Mohammed Siraj for his first four. He then played on the up through cover for another boundary as England got off to a positive start, cashing in on the loose deliveries to get past 50 in the 11th over.
Crawley, who was outscored by Duckett, hit his straps with two successive fours off Siraj and also survived a review from India after shouldering arms, with replays revealing that the ball was going over the stumps. Kamboj returned and was flicked for a four by Duckett while Crawley played a fine drive past mid-on for a four off Siraj. Duckett was on 43 and Crawley on 33 as both headed back unbeaten at Tea, having brought down the deficit to 281.
Thakur, who bowled the first over of the final session, found some movement and also got Crawley to edge the ball but it evaded gully and went for a four. Crawley, meanwhile, played a couple of good shots, scoring fours off Bumrah and Thakur. Duckett then got to a 46-ball fifty before punching a Thakur delivery through cover for another four, taking England past 100 in the 19th over. Soon, Crawley reached a 73-ball fifty with a four off Thakur and went on a boundary-hitting spree, with two fours in another over off Thakur, followed by a six and a four off Ravindra Jadeja in the spinner’s first over.
The partnership finally came to an end as Jadeja got one to turn away from Crawley and found the edge, with KL Rahul taking a sharp low catch at first slip. Duckett, though, continued in his merry ways, targetting Siraj for a string of boundaries as he entered the 90s. But he fell six short of the three-figure mark, edging to the ‘keeper while attempting a cut, giving Kamboj his maiden Test wicket. However, the inconsistency of India’s debutant showed as he leaked more boundaries with Ollie Pope and Joe Root taking England past 200. India were interested for a bit when Bumrah got one to jag back into Root but ultimately decided not to review. Root played a nice straight drive for a four off Kamboj while Pope saw through the final over of the day from Bumrah, and even struck a four.
Earlier, armed with the second new ball at the start of the day, Jofra Archer dismissed Jadeja but India managed to stretch their total past 300 thanks to a 48-run stand between Thakur and Washington. But the partnership ended when Thakur edged Stokes to gully to depart for 41. Washington, who had taken his time to settle in, getting off the mark after 19 balls, brought up the 300 for India with an edged boundary.
The highlight of the session, though, was the return of Pant, who had retired hurt on 37 on Day 1 due to a foot fracture. Welcomed by a standing ovation, Pant struggled to run but stuck around with Washington, as India reached 321/6 at Lunch, with 57 runs coming off 23 overs in the session. India lost wickets quickly after Lunch, with Stokes cutting short Washington’s stay by having him caught at fine leg attempting a pull. Kamboj fell for a duck, caught behind off Stokes as the England captain bagged his first five-wicket haul since September 2017.
Pant continued the fight, striking a six off Archer and a four off Stokes as he brought up a 69-ball fifty. However, he fell soon after, bowled by a beauty from Archer. Bumrah then inside edged an Archer delivery for a four, taking India past 350 and Siraj hammered a boundary over Stokes’ head. India’s innings, however, ended as Bumrah was caught-behind attempting a pull, with Root convincing his captain to go for a review, as the visitors lost four wickets for the addition of 37 runs in 9.1 overs after Lunch.
Brief scores: India 358 (Sai Sudharsan 61, Yashasvi Jaiswal 58, Rishabh Pant 54; Ben Stokes 5-72, Jofra Archer 3-73) lead England 225/2 (Ben Duckett 94, Zak Crawley 84; Ravindra Jadeja 1-37, Anshul Kamboj 1-48) by 133 runs.
© Cricbuzz
