Joe Root and Tom Hartley struck in the opening session to lead England’s fightback but KL Rahul’s fifty put India in solid control on Day 2 in the ongoing first Test here at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday.
At the time of Lunch, India’s score read 222/3 – trail by 24 runs – with Rahul (55) and Shreyas Iyer (34) standing unbeaten at the crease.
India resumed their innings at 119/1 on Day 2. Joe Root provided England with an early breakthrough as he dismissed well-set batter Yashasvi Jaiswal for 80 runs. The hitter attempted to knock the bowler back over his head, but he was caught and bowled, which Root caught easily. KL Rahul walked out to bat with a lot of work to be done.
Rahul and Shubman Gill did not relent in their approach and England was put on the back foot straight away. At the end of 30 overs, India racked up 145 runs on the scoreboard at the loss of 2 wickets.
The duo kept on mixing caution with aggression for the fourth-wicket partnership.
The debutant Tom Hartley provided his team with a big wicket as he removed Shubman Gill for 23 runs, breaking a 36-run partnership between No. 3 batter and Rahul. Shreyas Iyer then came out to bat.
At the end of 45 overs, India put 202 runs on the scoreboard with the loss of 3 wickets. Rahul brought up his well-made half-century in 72 balls.
The duo of Rahul and Iyer settled in for India as they ensured that India did not lose any wickets before the lunch break.
Brief score: England 246 (Ben Stokes 70, Ben Duckett 35; Ravichandran Ashwin 3-68) vs India 222/3 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 80, KL Rahul 55*; Joe Root 1-26).
