Hyderabad: Indian batters had a good day in office as they turned the screws on England in the first Test here on Friday.
Starting the second day on 119/1, the home team scored over 300 runs to reach 421/7 at stumps. That has handed India a lead of 175 runs already, and possibly a few more to come with spinning allrounders Ravindra Jadeja (unbeaten 81) and Axar Patel (unbeaten 35) batting superbly.
Yashasvi Jaiswal fell for 80 in the day’s first over after hitting Root for a boundary, while a subdued Shubman Gill (24) played across the line to give debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley his first Test wicket.
KL Rahul, who came in at No. 4 in Virat Kohli’s absence, took centrestage thereafter. The stylish right-hander took a bit of time to judge the pace and bounce of the pitch before unleashing an array of strokes. The stylish right-hander hit 8 fours and 2 sixes, and a century looked there for his taking. However, a soft dismissal led to his downfall on 86 as Rahul pulled a short ball from Hartley straight to mid-wicket.
Rahul added 64 for the fourth wicket with Shreyas Iyer (35) and 65 for the fifth with Jadeja.
From 288/5, Jadeja and wicketkeeper KS Bharat (41) stitched a 68-run partnership, while the pair of left-arm spinners Jadeja and Axar Patel added 63 runs without being separated.
The only batter to miss out on the run feast against an inexperienced English attack was Ravichandran Ashwin, who was run out for 1.
Brief scores: England 246. India 421/7 (KL Rahul 86, Ravindra Jadeja 81 batting, KS Bharat 41, Shreyas Iyer 35, Axar Patel 35 batting; Joe Root 2/77).
Match to continue on Day 3, India lead by 175 runs.
