India produced an inspired bowling display to deny England their first limited-overs series in the country since 1984, winning the second Twenty-20 International (T20I) by five runs.

India posted 144/8 after being sent into bat in the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. England, seemingly in control, faltered at the end to be restricted to 139/6.

Young pacer Jasprit Bumrah bowled an inspired last over, conceding only two runs, to deny England a victory. He finished the match with figures of 20/2 in his four overs, giving away only three runs in the 18th over.

Veteran pacer Asish Nehra (3/28) also contributed to India’s win.

England won the first match of the three-match series by seven wickets at Kanpur. The third match is at Bengaluru on February 1.

Sam Billings (12) got England going in the run chase with two huge sixes of leg-spinner Yuzvender Chahal in the third over.

But Nehra struck twice in the next over, having Billings (12) caught by Bumrah at fine leg in the first ball and then induced a leading edge of Jason Roy (10) in the next ball to be caught at mid-on by Suresh Raina.

The twin strikes jolted England. They needed time to get back in their run-chasing groove.

Skipper Eoin Morgan (17) and Joe Root (38) began rebuilding. Root struck two fours in the ninth over, off leg-spinner Amit Mishra, to increase the run rate.

England reached 65/2 in 10 overs, needing 80 more runs to win in 60 balls.

But their ambitions received a blow when Morgan mistimed a lofted shot off Mishra to be caught at deep midwicket in the 11th over.

Mishra then bowled Ben Stokes (38) in the third ball of the over but replays showed he overstepped to concede a no-ball.

Stokes launched himself to a boundary and a six off Raina in the 14th over to increase the run rate. He continued with a pull shot off Chahal for a six to bring up England’s 100 in the 15th over.

England were 104/3 in 15 overs, needing 41 runs off 30 balls.

The 52-run fourth-wicket partnership of Root and Stokes steadily took England to a rare series win in India.

A desperate Kohli, needing a breakthrough, brought back Nehra, who duly responded, removing Stokes with a slower fuller delivery on middle stump that the left-hander missed and was adjudged leg before wicket.

The pressure oscillated towards the English batsmen despite Root anchoring one end. But they needed 24 runs from 12 balls and urgently needed boundaries.

Jos Butler (15) whipped Nehra for a four and a six in the 19th over to inch them closer.

Root was caught lbw by Bumrah in the first ball of the last over, with England needing eight for victory. Bumrah then castled Butler in the fourth ball, with England still requiring seven runs off two balls, which proved too much.

Earlier, India posted a paltry total.

Opener K.L. Rahul (71) was the top scorer for the hosts while Manish Pandey contributed with a crucial 30 runs.

Put in to bat, Indian openers Virat Kohli and Rahul started the innings cautiously by playing the ball to its merit.

After four overs, Kohli, who slammed 21 runs in 15 balls, failed to continue his aggressive batting as he was dismissed by pacer Chris Jordan.

Jordan bowled a slower and wider ball, to which Kohli stepped out for a lofted shot but ended up getting caught at long-on to Liam Dawson.

Incoming batsman Raina, who impressed in the last match at Kanpur, was sent back by leg-spinner Adil Rashid after only two overs with seven runs.

The recalled left-hander tried to slog sweep but ended up hitting the ball straight to Jordan at long-on.

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After eight overs, India were struggling at 56/2 with two premier batsmen departing cheaply.

Rahul, who seemed to be in good nick, played his regular shots and signalled his return to form while incoming batsman Yuvraj Singh failed to step up to the occasion, being sent packing in the 11th over while trying a sweep to spinner Moeen Ali. The Punjab batsman was adjudged leg before wicket.

Unperturbed by the fall of wickets, Rahul went on to slam a quick-fire fifty. His 32-ball knock was laced with three boundaries and two massive sixes.

The fall of Yuvraj’s wicket brought in Manish Pandey, who along with Rahul helped the hosts to get past 100-run mark in the 14th over.

Both batsmen forged a 56-run fourth-wicket partnership before Rahul was caught by Strokes at deep mid-wicket.

Jordan bowled a slower delivery on the off-stump to end an impressive 47-ball knock of Rahul.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni then joined Pandey and together they made their intentions clear right from the beginning of their partnership.

Pandey slammed a huge six off a slower and fuller delivery of pacer Tymal Mills. The 27-year-old got underneath the ball and muscled it out of the field. But he was bowled out by Mills in the same over.

In the last over, the hosts failed to press the accelerator, only managing five runs, losing three wickets in the process.

For England, Jordan scalped 3-22 to be the most successful while Mills, Ali and Rashid chipped in with a wicket each.

Brief score: India: 144/8 (K.L.Rahul 71, Manish Pandey 21; Chris Jordan 3-22), England 139/6 (Joe Root 38, Ben Stokes 38; Asish Nehra 3/28)

A resilient Jos Buttler guided England to 385/8 at lunch against India in their first innings on the second day of the fourth cricket Test match.

Resuming at their overnight score of 288/5, Jos Buttler struck a crucial half century to pull England towards a decent first innings score. He was unbeaten on 64, accompanied by Jake Ball (29 batting) at lunch.

India’s premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (5-102) picked up his 23rd five-wicket haul in Tests, dismissing Ben Stokes (31) who was caught by Virat Kohli.

India picked up three wickets in the first session of the day, shared by spinners Ravichandran Ashwin, who picked one and Ravindra Jadeja (3-105), who got the other two.

England added 97 runs in 31 overs in the opening session of play, losing three wickets.

Ashwin provided India with the day’s first breakthrough early, edging Ashwin to Kohli to slip.

The ball clipped keeper Parthiv Patel’s pads before landing to Kohli, who quickly asked for a review. The third umpire judged it in India’s favour.

Chris Woakes prodded his way to 11 runs, before getting undone by a sharp turning delivery that kissed his bat and was sharply caught by Patel.

Adil Rashid also went soon after, leaving a straight Jadeja delivery to be bowled.

England were reduced to 334/8 and were staring of being bowled out under 350.

But Buttler-Ball then began the resurrection work, putting on undefeated 51-run stand for the ninth wicket.

IANS

Debutant Keaton Jennings cracked a superb century but India fought back to restrict England to 288/5 to end the first day’s action of the fourth Test on even keel at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

Jennings, the eighth English batsman to hit a century on debut (112), propelled the visitors to a strong position at 196/2 at tea. But India’s premier spinner Ravinchandran Ashwin (4-69) orchestrated a turnaround in the final session of the day to peg back England.

Jos Butler (18) and Ben Stokes (25) were at the crease at stumps.

Left-arm spiner Ravindra Jadeja (1-60) took the only other wicket to fall at the Wankhede Stadium.

Jennings’ fine effort was complemented by Moeen Ali (50). England skipper Alastair Cook contributed 46.

–IANS

Umpire Paul Reiffel was hospitalized for a scan after being hit on the back of his head by a throw from the deep during the first day of the fourth cricket Test between India and England.

Reiffel, former Australia pacer, collapsed on the ground after being hit by a throw from India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar who was fielding at deep square leg.

He received medical attention on the field initially and later in the dressing room.

The incident happened in the post-lunch session. Reiffel was positioned a the square-leg when Bhuvneshwar’s throw, aimed at Cheteshwar Pujara, hit him midway.

After the blow, the 50-year-old fell to the ground, holding up play for 10 to 12 minutes.

Third umpire Marais Erasmus took Reiffel’s place as the on-field umpire.

The results of the scan weren’t immediately available.

–IANS

Debutant Keaton Jennings put up an impressive show, pulling England to 117/1 at lunch on the first day of the fourth Test match against India here on Thursday.

Jennings was batting on 65 and No.3 Joe Root was unbeaten on 5 when lunch was called, with 31 overs bowled during the first session of play.

England skipper Alastair Cook was the only batsman dismissed at 46 when he was stumped by Parthiv Patel off the bowling of left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja.

England put on 99 for the opening wicket after winning the toss and electing to bat at the Wankhede Stadium.

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Cook’s decision of taking first strike seemed vindicated when he and Jennings put together a strong partnership.

They scored at a brisk rate of nearly four runs an over till Cook was foxed by Jadeja to come out of his crease and sharply stumped by Patel in the 26th over.

They were cautious yet firm to put away bad deliveries without hesitation.

Cook became the sixth batsman to score 2000 or more Test runs against India during his innings, when he reached 19.

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Cook is the first England batsman to achieve the feat against India, which have some elite names — Ricky Ponting, Clive Lloyd, Javed Miandad, Shivanarine Chanderpaul and Michael Clarke.

Both teams were forced to make changes to their playing XI, with India naming opener K.L.Rahul and pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and England naming Jennings and Kate Ball.

IANS

Parthiv Patel struck a whirlwind half-century as India thrashed England by eight wickets in the third Test at the Punjab Cricket Association I.S. Bindra Stadium.
Patel stormed to 67 runs off 54 balls as India overhauled the 103-run target a short while after the tea break on the fourth day.

Indian skipper Virat Kohli remained unbeaten on six runs at the other end. Patel hit a boundary to overhaul the target as India finished at 104/2.

Pacer Chris Woakes and leg-spinner Adil Rashid bagged a wicket each for England.

India now lead the five-match Test series 2-0. The hosts had won the second Test in Visakhapatnam by 246 runs while the first match of the series had ended in a draw at Rajkot.

Earlier, resuming at the overnight score of 78/4, England lost quick wickets to end their second innings at 236 runs.

Haseeb Hameed posted a half-century in difficult conditions to remain unbeaten on 59 and help take England past the 200-run mark.

The visitors were all out for 283 runs in their first innings while India had posted 417.

IANS

Wicketkeeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow (89) saved England’s blushes as the visitors reached 268/8 at stumps on the opening day of the third Test against India at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) I.S. Bindra Stadium.

At stumps, tailenders Abdul Rashid (4) and Gareth Batty (0) were at the crease.

Bairstow fell 11 short of what could have been his fourth Test century when off-spinner Jayant Yadav trapped him in front just before the day’s play ended. His 177-ball knock included six boundaries.

Despite losing his partners at the other end, Bairstow played the sheet anchor’s role well to bring up his half-century in 76 balls.

Coming together at the fall of Moeen Ali (16), Bairstow forged a 57-run stand with Ben Stokes (29) before being separated by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja after the lunch break.

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Stokes, who went in for an ambitious drive was cleverly foxed by Jadeja leaving the rest to stumper Parthiv Patel, who lost no time in stumping the English all-rounder.

The fall of Stokes brought in part-time stumper Jos Butler, who was recalled to the England side in place of a struggling Ben Duckett.

Buttler and Bairstow then added 69 runs to help restore some measure of respectability to the England scoreboard.

Just when the partnership looked threatening, Jadeja once again struck after the tea break to dismiss Buttler, who looked set to reach his half ton.

Buttler, who consumed 80 balls, went in for a flashy drive off Jadeja, only to find India skipper Virat Kohli’s safe hands at mid-off. His knock included five hits to the fence.

Bairstow then survived a futile review from India to forge another crucial stand of 45 runs for the seventh wicket with Chris Woakes (25) before Jayant found him plump in front from around the wicket.

Woakes then departed in the penultimate over of the day to leave England reeling at 266/8.

The day mostly belonged to the Indian bowlers, who stuck to a tight line and length as England lost the plot right in the first session of play.

For the hosts, Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Jayant took two wickets each while pacer Mohammed Shami and senior offie Ravichandran Ashwin bagged one wicket apiece.

Earlier, inspired by a disciplined bowling effort, India reduced England to 92/4 by lunch.

Electing to bat after winning the toss, England lost opener Haseeb Hameed (9) before skipper Alastair Cook (27) and Joe Root (15) took them past the 50-run mark.

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But the hosts quickly turned it around with three quick wickets of Cook, Root and Moeen Ali (16) just before the lunch break to put the visitors on the backfoot.

Teenaged opener Hameed, who survived 31 balls, was the first casualty for the English side when a short of a good length delivery from pacer Umesh Yadav hit his gloves to give an easy catch to Ajinkya Rahane at gully.

Root then joined Cook in the middle but failed to impress before succumbing leg before to off-spinner Jayant Yadav as the visitors were reduced to 51/2.

Cook, meanwhile failed to capitalise on the two dropped chances — dropped on 4 by Ravindra Jadeja and then on 23 by Ravichandran Ashwin — both off pacer Mohammed Shami.

His 42-ball vigil at the crease was cut short by a short and wide delivery from Ashwin, which resulted in a thin edge for stumper Parthiv Patel. Cook batted fluently for his 27, which was laced with six hits to the fence.

Tottering at 51/3, Kohli immediately brought back Shami into the attack and the Bengal pacer responded beautifully by packing off left-hander Ali.

Back for his second spell, Shami induced Ali with a short delivery, which resulted in a top edge only to be caught at fine leg by Murali Vijay.

Ali looked confident in the middle hitting Jayant Yadav for a consecutive four and a six during his 45-ball stay. Thereafter, Bairstow and Stokes survived a few anxious moments to take England to 92/4 when the umpires signalled for the lunch break.

IANS

India skipper Virat Kohli was on Tuesday accused of ball tampering during the drawn first cricket Test against England at Rajkot by a British daily.

British tabloid ‘The Daily Mail’ has produced inconclusive evidence to show that Kohli used to shine the ball with the residue of a sweet in his mouth.

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The newspaper has claimed that Kohli put his hands deep in his mouth, and then shined one side of the ball during the match which was played between November 9 to 13.

“Footage has emerged of India captain Virat Kohli appearing to shine the ball using residue from a sweet during his country’s draw with England in the first Test,” the report in The Daily Mail read.

“Television cameras caught Kohli, who finished on 49 not out on the final day in Rajkot, putting his right hand towards his mouth,” it added.

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“The 28-year-old can be seen rubbing his fingers in his mouth, inside of which is a sweet. He then appears to shine one side of the ball.”

But the doubts raised by the English media seemed to backfire as Kohli’s actions were not cited by the umpire or the match referee after the match.

IANS

Seasoned opener Gautam Gambhir, who was released from the India squad ahead of the second cricket Test, was on Tuesday dropped as the selectors retained the same squad for the remaining three matches of the five-Test rubber against England.

Gambhir, who managed just 29 and 0 in the first game against England at Rajkot, was released from the squad just before the second Test once Karnataka batsman Lokesh Rahul returned after recovering from a hamstring injury.

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Barring the southpaw, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors decided to retain the same squad under skipper Virat Kohli, who won the second Test by 246 runs on Monday.

Already 1-0 up in the series, India will now take on England in the third Test at Mohali from Saturday followed by the last two Tests respectively in Mumbai (from December 8 to 12) and Chennai (December 16 to 20).

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Squad: Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Karun Nair, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya.

IANS

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Ashwin picks up his his 22nd 5-wicket haul, Virat scores another half century as India reached 98 for three in their 2nd innings to take a 298-run lead at the end of the third day’s play in the second cricket Test against England.  

Earlier in the day, India bowled out England for 255 in their first innings as the visitors trailed India by 200 runs.

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In the second innings, captain Virat Kohli led from the front with an unbeaten 56, forging a 58-run fourth-wicket stand with Ajinkya Rahane (22*).