After a nervy win at Lord’s, England came to Manchester with loads of confidence and with a 2-1 lead in the series, making only one change to the side. A forced one at that, with Liam Dawson replacing Shoaib Bashir. India made 3 changes with Shardul Thakur, Anshul Kamboj on debut, and Sai Sudharsan coming in place of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akash Deep, and Karun Nair. England began the Test match well and started off by winning the toss.
They opted to bowl first and bowled their hearts out to keep India down to 358, and have begun a solid response with the bat. While it was a tough day for the Indian bowlers today, one moment stood out and gave them something to cheer about, and that came against the run of play when Anshul Kamboj dismissed Ben Duckett in the final session of play. It was something for the young man and his team to feel happy about.
England’s openers get off to a fantastic startÂ
After dismissing India for 358, India would have hoped to get early inroads, but that was not to be as Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett came out all guns blazing. Crawley took his time early on, especially against Bumrah, but Duckett was quickly off the blocks and took on the other bowlers. Debutant Anshul Kamboj was not spared initially as he was hit for three boundaries in an over. Suddenly, the floodgates opened and runs flowed like a rampaging river.
Even Bumrah was not spared as the Indian bowlers missed their lines and lengths as England scored 77 off the first 14 overs for the loss of 0 wickets at Tea on the second day. The run scoring continued even after Tea as both grew in confidence and scored freely at will. The Indians were inconsistent and paid the price for it as both players crossed their fifties with ease.
The score reached 166 when, against the run of play, Zak Crawley got out for 84 off 113 balls to Ravindra Jadeja with 13 fours and a six to his name. Ollie Pope joined Ben Duckett in the middle, and Duckett looked to be unstoppable; someone needed to stop the bleeding of the runs.
Anshul Kamboj gets his maiden scalp as Ben Duckett departs
Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope added 31 for the second wicket off 38 balls, with Duckett doing the bulk of the scoring. The southpaw had reached the 90s and looked good to get his century. But Anshul Kamboj had other ideas and managed to spoil Duckett’s party of Duckett.
Anshul Kamboj came from around the wicket and bowled a short of a good length outside off with width offered as well. There was some extra bounce on offer, which surprised the batter. Duckett rocked back and slashed hard at the ball. He looked to play the square cut, and the extra bounce surprised him big time as Duckett got a thick outside edge and Jurel did the rest by taking a comfortable catch as Duckett fell for 94 off 100 balls with 13 boundaries to his name.
It was a proud moment for Anshul Kamboj on what was an otherwise difficult day for Indian bowlers after the batters fought hard to give them some kind of total to fight with. The conditions favoured bowling in the morning before it got quite easier later on. Anshul Kamboj’s figures were damaged very badly, even after taking a wicket, as he conceded 48 runs in his 14 overs and took a solitary wicket.
What Lies Ahead
England are in a commanding position at the end of the second day’s play at Old Trafford in Manchester. Joe Root joined Ollie Pope in the middle, and the duo have already put on an unbeaten stand of 28 runs off 49 balls for the third wicket. Pope is batting on 20* off 42 balls with 3 boundaries to his name, while Joe Root is with him on 11* off 27 balls with 2 boundaries to his name. England are 225/2 in 46 overs, trailing India only by 133 runs with 8 wickets in hand.
India is on the back foot now. Can they fight back because they will need a good morning session to come back in the game? England will look to negotiate the first hour, and with wickets in hand, they will look to bat well and bat big. How will the 3rd day’s play, which is the moving day pan out? We shall find out soon.
Also Read:Â ENG vs IND: Records Galore After Eventful Day 1 Of Topsy-Turvy Day For India