Bowlers sweat on a flat surface

On another hot and humid day here at the MA Chidambaram stadium, bowlers once again had to settle for poor returns on their investments even as batsmen made the most of near-perfect batting conditions.

If Friday’s opening day saw only four wickets fall, Saturday was marginally better as six wickets fell on a pitch that has so far betrayed few characteristics of a traditional Chepauk surface.

England, overnight 284/4, posted an impressive 477 all out in 157.2 overs on the back a fifty each from debutant Liam Dawson (66 n.o., 148b, 1x6) and Adil Rashid (60, 155b, 8x4) despite losing three wickets in the morning session, including that of last night’s centurion Moeen Ali (146, 262b, 13x4, 1x6).

India, needing to bat out a minimum of 20 overs for the day, reached 60 without loss with openers KL Rahul (30 n.o.) and Parthiv Patel (28 n.o.) looking comfortable during their 87-minute stint. Parthiv was forced to open after M Vijay bruised his left shoulder while making a diving stop during England’s innings. The Tamil Nadu batsman is being treated for the injury and is expected to be fit to bat on Sunday.

Like on the opening day, India enjoyed the better of exchanges in the first session. They restricted England to 68 runs in 29 overs while prising out three wickets. Ben Stokes lasted no more than five balls in the morning with Ashwin, replacing Jadeja from the pavilion end, foxing him with a loopy delivery that shaped away as the southpaw pressed forward to drive it. Stokes only managed an edge and Parthiv completed a smart catch. It was exactly the start India were looking for and England were dreading.

Ishant, operating from the other end with almost a new ball, was hostile. He generated good speed and disconcerting bounce and threatened not just English batsmen’s wickets but their limbs as well. He took no time to get rid of Jos Buttler who played across to a straight delivery and missed the ball. He was so plumb that Ali firmly told him not to review the decision.

Even a set Ali struggled against his short balls, struggling to fend and finding it difficult to sway away from the line. Ishant created enough doubts in the batsman’s mind during his spell (4-1-6-1) and Umesh Yadav reaped the benefits with an equally aggressive spell if not always accurate.

Having placed three fielders in the deep on the leg-side, Umesh kept banging the short ones and it wasn’t long before Ali pulled one from outside off; the miscued attempt was grabbed by Jadeja. It was a big blow for India and lunch would have tasted that much better as England’s chances of putting up a 400-run total appeared slim at 352/7.

This was Dawson’s first hit in Test cricket and all-rounder Rashid had a highest score of an unbeaten 32 from seven innings so far in this series. England’s innings appeared headed for another collapse but the two stonewalled the home attack with doughty half-centuries to help them post their second highest total of the series.

Dawson became the third English batsman on this tour to make a fifty-plus score on his debut after Haseeb Hameed and Keaton Jennings while Rashid finally did some justice to his all-rounder’s tag with his first half-century of the series. Together they added 108 runs for the eighth wicket – second highest at this ground for this stand – as the tourists’ lower-order finally came alive.

Ashwin brought up his worst bowling figures (44-3-151-1) in an innings this series while Jadeja (3/106) couldn’t add to his first day’s tally on a day when pacers appeared more effective. India also got four of their reviews wrong in the innings, helping England enjoy their best outing after the first Test.