Ben Stokes was left to salute the genius of Jasprit Bumrah, after the quick bowler’s nine wickets helped India strike back with a series-levelling victory in the Second Test at Vizag.
Having completed a stunning comeback to claim a famous success in the Hyderabad opener, England went into day four chasing a record 399 in the belief that another miracle could be on the cards. While the tourists made a decent fist of their daunting pursuit, however, the ask proved too tall; too many players squandering starts, as Zak Crawley’s 73 made him the only batter to pass 40 in a total of 292.
Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal’s stunning first-innings 209 and Shubman Gill’s hundred to keep India on top in the second, Bumrah was rightly named man of the match.
The quick, who produced a masterful spell of reverse-swing to take six wickets during England’s first innings, made vital inroads on the final day, removing Jonny Bairstow as part of a double-breakthrough on the cusp of lunch, then splitting a partnership of 55 between Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley that proved England’s final resistance of note. Fittingly, it was Bumrah who later applied the finishing touch with a beauty to dismantle Hartley’s stumps.
The 30-year-old now averages just 13 in home Tests, and speaking afterwards, Stokes compared his talent to that of James Anderson, who finished with five wickets of his own on an impressive return to the side.
“You look at Jimmy Anderson and the way that Jasprit Bumrah bowled this week,” Stokes said. “You’re watching two guys who are incredibly skilful bowlers.
“Watching those two, albeit Jasprit is on the opposite side, you’ve got to sometimes hold your hands up and just say, ‘Wow, what a player’.”
"You’ve got to sometimes hold your hands up and just say, ‘Wow, what a player’"
After Ben Duckett and Crawley had delivered their customary fast start on the third evening, England resumed on Monday with nine wickets in hand but still 332 runs shy of a chase without precedent, no visiting side having successfully reeled in anything close on Indian soil. England, as tourists, had never managed more than 208, and that way back in 1972.
The Bazball era, however, had launched on a chasing manifesto two summers ago, when a record pursuit of 378 against this very India at Edgbaston only three wickets down left no limit on what Stokes’s men might consider to be within reach.
“We had full belief we could go and chase that down,” Stokes said. “The way we go about taking on challenges like that is what we’re about.
“The way we applied ourselves and tried to put the Indian attack under pressure was great. Unfortunately, we didn’t end up on the right side of the result. Congratulations to India, I thought they played a fantastic game and it was another great game to be a part of.”
Twice, English hope was allowed to build, first when Crawley and Bairstow were purring in the late morning and then, almost by default, when Stokes arrived at the crease.
Crawley had played wonderfully again for his second 70-something score in the match, but was trapped lbw by Kuldeep Yadav on review, England in disbelief that DRS showed the ball crashing into leg-stump when, to the naked eye, it appeared to be drifting by.
Bairstow, the poster boy for England’s chasing prowess, followed when pinned by Bumrah in the very next over, as 194 for four became 194 for six and India seized control. The morning session had brought 127 runs and a fair dent in the target, but at too great a toll.
It left the tourists needing a new level of Stokes masterclass with the tail, but the skipper’s stay was needlessly short-lived. Already hesitant out of the traps when looking to work a single, Stokes did not realise the need for a full-length dive and was instead stranded short of his ground by Shreyas Iyer’s superb pick-up and throw.
Gone for 11, it was the second wildly uncharacteristic dismissal from an England stalwart, after Joe Root, nursing a finger injury, had succumbed in rash fashion following a chaotic 16 from 10 balls.
Foakes and Hartley each made 36, the young spinner denying Ravichandran Ashwin a 500th Test wicket with a successful review as he again proved himself no mug with the bat in a defiant cameo. There would be no escape for either, however, when Bumrah was recalled to seal the deal.
The teams are now blessed with a nine-day break before the Third Test in Rajkot from next Thursday, when India could be bolstered by the returns of several absent stars, after Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and KL Rahul all missed this triumph.
England, though, have already exceeded more pessimistic predictions in sticking with the hosts through the first leg of the five-match tour and the series is perfectly poised.
