India triumph Vizag, take 1-0 lead against England

Visakhapatnam [India]: Indian bowlers came out with yet another brilliant performance on their home soil to hand over the host a big 246-run victory over England in the second Test at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.

Chasing a target of 405, the Alastair Cook-led side went down like a pack of cards and were eventually bundled out for 158 after battling hard for 97.3 overs.

Resuming at the overnight score of 87 for 2 on Day Five, England slumped to 142 for 7 by lunch, with only pride left to play for as Jonny Bairstow manned the pumps with the tail for company.

Both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were relentless in the morning to get rid of Ben Duckett and Moeen Ali.

Ashwin and debutant Jayant Yadav took three wickets each while Jadeja and Mohammad Shami took two-two wickets each. For England, Cook was the only batter to cross the half-century mark. The debutant first trapped Stuart Broad before the wickets and on the next delivery caught James Anderson plumb in front of the stumps to bring an end to the England’s defiance.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who scored 161 and 81 in both the innings, was adjudged Man of the Match.

With this, India go 1-0 up in the five-match series. The first Test had ended in a pale draw.

The two teams will now head to Mohali where the visitors would like to come up with a better show and level the series. (ANI)