Ind vs Eng 2nd Test: Third day’s play ends, India all out for 255 runs, England set target of 399 runs

Visakhapatnam (Uttam Hindu News): On the basis of Shubman Gill’s third Test century (104) and some important contributions from Axar Patel (45) and Ravichandran Ashwin (29), India gave England a big target of 399 runs to win the second Test. Whereas their second innings was reduced to 255 runs on the third day on Sunday. The target of 399 is also higher than the 378 runs achieved by England against India in the fifth Test at Edgbaston in July 2022. While chasing the target, England has scored 67 runs after losing one wicket while they still need 332 runs to win.

Ben Duckett, after scoring 28 runs in 27 balls with the help of six fours, was caught out by wicketkeeper Shrikar Bharat on the ball of Ashwin. Bharat came forward from the stumps and took an excellent catch by jumping. At the time of stumps, Zak Crawley is at the crease with 29 runs in 50 balls with the help of three fours and a six and night watchman Rehan Ahmed is at the crease with nine runs. Rehan hit two fours off Akshar Patel’s balls in the last over of the day.

After the completion of three days, it still cannot be said with certainty which team will win this match. There are still two days left in the game but tomorrow will prove to be decisive and it is possible that the winner will be found tomorrow itself. England have a target of 399 in which they have already scored 67 runs. Once again England’s opening pair gave a fast start due to which victory does not seem far from England’s reach at this time.

Furthermore, the highest successful chase by an opposition team against India at home was recorded by West Indies when they successfully chased 276/5 at the Feroz Shah Kotla, New Delhi in 1987.

The record for the highest successful chase in India is 387 runs, which was made against England in Chennai in 2008. Additionally, the highest target successfully chased in the fourth innings in Asia is 395, which was set by West Indies against Bangladesh in Chittagong in 2021, making the target of 399 runs difficult for England. Despite their baseball style of playing Test cricket, it is even more challenging.

Gill got lucky early on and made it a success by scoring 104 runs off 147 balls, which was his first Test century as a number three batsman. Gill hit 11 fours and two sixes in his innings. His 81-run partnership with Shreyas Iyer and then 89-run partnership with Patel (45), followed by Ashwin’s 29-run innings, helped India reach a competitive score. For England, spinners Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed combined to take seven wickets as the Indian lower order collapsed early. India lost its last six wickets by adding 44 runs.