England’s lower-order batsmen Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson played out the first session safely after England lost three early wickets on day two of the fifth Test match in Chennai at Lunch.
England, who proceeded their innings at 287 for four, lost all-rounder Ben Stokes early on. Ravichandran Ashwin deceived the left-hander with the flighted delivery, leaning him forward and trapping him in the spin web, yet again for just five runs this time. Jos Buttler then entered the arena with some expectations on his shoulders.
On the other hand, Ishant Sharma made the ball do talking with some fiery bouncers and in-swingers. The lanky bowler kept on persisting with the wicket-taking length, and few overs later he had Jos Buttler unmoved in front of stumps, removing him for just six. England in no time was reduced to 300 for six.
Moeen Ali, who seem to struggle against some really good bowling, managed to pace England’s innings to a decent total and surely helping his run of form in the process.
Getting hit couple of times on the shoulder and biceps, Ali top edged one to deep mid-wicket off Umesh Yadav’s bowling, welcoming Jadeja to grab a catch, which apparently he does. England before the end of the first session lost yet another wicket.
As the dry surface underneath was assisting the spinners, debutant Liam Dawson looked firm with his conventional technique to tackle the turn. Supported well by Adil Rashid on the other end, the pair safely marched their side at 352 for seven at lunch on day two.