Chennai: England looked like repeating the same mistakes when after a good first day they began poorly on Day 2 losing three wickets for 37 runs. But they managed to score a good first innings total of 477 as England’s lower order refused to give up. debutant Liam Dawosn and Adil Rashid put on a century stand for the 8th wicket, making sure that England manage a total of more than 450 and give themselves a chance to win.

The 8th wicket partnership worth 108 runs in 41.3 overs turned out to be a massive turn around for England. At 321/7, not many would have even thought of a total in excess of 450. But Dawson and Rashid played sensibly and took their time in the middle, punishing the balls that were in their zone. Dawson in fact remained unbeaten on 66 and became the highest scorer at no 8 in a debut innings. Stuart Broad also stayed for a while but unfortunately was run out and Jake Ball didn’t bother the Indian bowlers much.

What could easily have been a 350something total ended up becoming a 477, thanks to the brilliant display of batting skills of Dawson and Rashid. Indian wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel had to come out as an emergency opener after 157.2 overs of duty behind the stumps when M Vijay injured his shoulder while fielding in point. Both Patel and regular opener KL Rahul ensured India do not lose any wicket till the end of the day’s play and hold a stake in the match.
Rahul and Patel scored 60 runs in 20 overs sharing five boundaries between them, not trying anything fancy. This meant that India are off to a stable and a good start in reply to England’s 477. England have to pick up 20 wickets to win the match after their batsmen have done the job.

Can England do it? Depend on how both the teams play during next 3 days.

After Stumps Day 2

England 477

India 60/0 (20.0 overs)

India trail by 417 runs with 10 wickets remaining in the 1st innings