Debutant left-arm spinner Axar Patel’s five-wicket haul in England’s second innings hastened India’s 317-run win in the second Test on Tuesday at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium, and it helped the host level the four-match series 1-1.
Chasing a target of 482, England were all out for 164 in 54.2 overs in the second session of the fourth day of the five-day match.
The win takes India to the second spot on the World Test Championship points table. India need one more win in this series to seal a spot in the final which will be played in June at Lord’s, London, in England. New Zealand hve already qualified for the final.
R. Ashwin was the hero of India’s win as he scored a century and captured eight wickets, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings.
Axar dismissed England captain Joe Root (33 off 92 balls) early in the second session on Tuesday to all but end the visitors’ slender chances of saving the Test. While all-rounder Moeen Ali put up a quickfire 38-run stand with Stuart Broad (5 not out) for the last wicket, he eventually fell to Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, who ended England’s second innings with two wickets. Moeen hit three fours and five sixes in his 18-ball 43.
Axar ended up with figures of 5/60, following up on his first innings figures of 2/40. Ravichandran Ashwin, meanwhile, took three wickets for 53 runs, squaring off a stellar showing in the Test in which he returned figures of 5/43 in England’s first innings and scored his fifth century in the longest format of the game.
The series now moves to Ahmedabad where the third day-night Test will be played from February 24 at the newly contructed Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera. The fourth Test will also be played at this venue.
England had earlier won the first Test at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium by 227 runs.
Brief scores: India 329 and 286 (Ravichandran Ashwin 106, Virat Kohli 62; Moeen Ali 4/98) beat England 134 and 164 (Moeen Ali 43, Joe Root 33; Axar Patel 5/60, Ravichandran Ashwin 3/53) by 317 runs
