 "IND vs ENG 3rd Test: Ben Duckett leads England's fightback with 88-ball century on Day 2 in Rajkot")
England fought back on Day 2 of the third Test against India in Rajkot on Friday to make it an evenly contested affair. At stumps on the second day, England were 207/2, trailing India by 238 runs. India resumed from their overnight total of 326/5, and although the hosts lost Ravindra Jadeja early in the day, Dhruv Jurel would go onto post 46 off 104 deliveries, including two fours and three sixes. Jurel was involved in a 77-run stand with Ravichandran Ashwin for the eighth wicket before the all-rounder departed for 37 in the 120th over. Jurel, however, could not follow in Sarfaraz Khan’s footsteps, as his top edge off Rehan Ahmed was taken by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes. India were 415/9 once Jurel was dismissed but Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj’s 30-run stand helped India post 445 on the board. In their first innings reply, England began positively with Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett forging 89 runs for the first wicket before the former was dismissed. While it wasn’t Crawley’s day, Duckett registered his third Test century, playing a few aggressive strokes along the way, including a slog sweep against Ashwin that went for six in the 22nd over. Duckett got to his century in 88 deliveries, which also was the second fastest by an England opener in Tests. Duckett forged a 93-run stand with Ollie Pope for the second wicket, before the latter was struck LBW off Mohammed Siraj’s delivery in the 30th over. Earlier in England’s innings, Ravichandran Ashwin had become the ninth bowler to get to 500 Test wickets when he removed Crawley in the 14th over. Ashwin also became just the second Indian, after Anil Kumble to achieve the milestone.
On an innocuous delivery from around the wicket, Crawley managed a connection that ballooned towards Rajat Patidar at short fine leg. Patidar only had to make a few paces on his left to grab the ball over his shoulder as each of Ashwin’s teammates rushed to celebrate the feat. The diminutive England opener Duckett, who looked a tad tentative outside the off-stump before the tea break, came out all guns blazing to bring up his first fifty of the tour, in just 39 balls with 11 hits to the fence. The introduction of spin did slow down Duckett’s pace for a short while, but he hit the top gear quickly to keep the Indian bowlers under pressure.
A pivotal moment came in the 21st over from Bumrah in his second spell with the Indian spearhead nailing a perfect yorker. With his front foot out of the way, it appeared on the first instance that the ball crashed into the wickets. However, umpire Kumar Dharmasena was not as convinced as the bowler got his captain to ask for DRS intervention. The replays showed Duckett had done incredibly well to connect with the ferocious yorker with the bottom of his bat. Each of the three DRS reviews per innings would weigh in gold if the pitch continues to be as placid as it has been for the first two days, but this was a review which India would not have mind losing. India took the second DRS against Ollie Pope when Mohammed Siraj, deployed on short-ball tactics, pitched a fuller one to hit the pads. Umpire Joel Wilson was unmoved but he had to overturn his appeal with the replays confirming that the ball was hitting the leg stump, ending Pope’s entertaining 39 off 55 balls (5 fours and 1 six). Ashwin returned for the final over of the day to have one more crack. His fourth delivery turned sharply away from Duckett after pitching on leg and Rohit Sharma collected a catch believing there was an edge. However, it culminated with replays showing the ball pitching outside leg and missing the bat completely, with India staring at a long third day in the field with only one DRS appeal left. With PTI inputs