Ranchi, Feb 24 (PTI) Young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir scythed through the Indian line-up with an impressive four-wicket haul that left the hosts stuttering at 219 for seven on day two of the fourth Test here on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Bashir, playing only his second Test, got rid of Shubman Gill (38), Rajat Patidar (17), Ravindra Jadeja (12) on a pitch that has uneven bounce and cracks to rattle the Indian top and middle order.
He returned after the tea break in his marathon 31-over spell across two sessions to clean up in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal (73) with a ball that skid through the defence of the left-hander.
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With intermittent wickets pegging India back, they were forced to play a catch-up game and are still trailing by 134 runs.
If it was not for a combative partnership between Dhruv Jurel (30 batting) and Kuldeep Yadav (17), India would have struggled to cross even 200-run mark. They had joined forces when the scorecard read 177 for seven.
The two batters played late and did not commit early into their shots, a ply that worked well in their unbeaten 42-run stand.
This was after England’s first innings folded for 353 after starting the day at 302 for seven. The total could have been bigger if Ollie Robinson (58) had not attempted an audacious reverse sweep off Ravindra Jadeja.
The 22-year-old Jaiswal yet again produced a confident knock. He now has scored 618 runs with an average of 103 in this series. He looked for another big one before being done in by low bounce.
Left-arm spinner Tom Hartley returned with figures of 2/47 that included the crucial breakthrough of Sarfaraz Khan (14) who had a frustrating stay. He also survived a run-out.
India lost Rohit Sharma (2) cheaply when old warhorse James Anderson induced a faint-edge from the skipper in the third over of their innings.
But thereafter, Jaiswal showed why he is India’s latest run machine when he overcame some anxious moments to post his fourth fifty-plus score in this series.
From a watchful start, India No. 3 Gill accelerated post-lunch break, taking on Anderson with two elegant boundaries — one flick off the pads, and a punch straight back down the ground.
But Bashir gave England the breakthrough by trapping Gill, halting the fine 82-run alliance between Gill and Jaiswal.
He delivered a ball that took off the crack just outside off stump, trapped Gill on the pad as Indians reviewed unsuccessfully.
It sort of triggered the Indian collapse as the batters failed to grind deep in, showing little application.
Having given a lifeline after sloppy displays in Rajkot, Patidar had a nervy and tentative stay.
The only bright spot of his innings was driving down Anderson past the gully for a boundary that brought up the 100 for India.
It was just a matter of time before Bashir trapped him with a ball that skidded onto his pads.
Post his century in Rajkot, Jadeja retained his No 5 spot and counter-attacked Hartley for successive sixes.
But Bashir was in the thick of the action again as his ball came off the cracks with Jadeja managing to loop the ball straight to short leg.
England added 51 valuable runs to their overnight total as the Indian attack failed to make early penetration. The last five England batters added 241 runs after being 112/5 at lunch on the opening day.
Joe Root, who dug in deep with his classical century spanning a little more than six hours, remained stranded on 122 from 274 balls (10×4).
Robinson gifted away his wicket after making a career-best 58 that resulted in England’s first innings ending at 353. Root and Robinson’s eighth wicket alliance yielded 102 runs for England.
While Mohammed Siraj (2/78) erred in his line and length, debutant Akash Deep could not add to his tally of three wickets to return with 3/38 from 19 overs. Jadeja took all the three wickets to return with 4/67 from his 32.5 overs.
Robinson had a great start to the morning when he flicked one away from a wayward Siraj in the first ball of the day for a boundary through fine leg.
There was no stopping him as he looked for every opportunity and took on Akash Deep with three boundaries that took him past his previous career-best Test score of 42.
However, a bizarre shot selection ended his gritty knock as he employed a grounded reverse sweep which was not necessary at that moment as Indian bowlers were hardly troubling the visitors.
The ball missed the edge of the bat but touched the gloves of Robinson before being grabbed by 23-year-old Dhurv Jurel that ended a dogged 102-run stand with Root.
England then fell in a jiffy with Bashir swinging his bat to the second ball and skied the ball to be caught at point. Jadeja trapped Anderson to end England resistance.
