India have further tightened their grip over the second Test against England with an impeccable bowling performance on the second day at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Rishabh Pant scored an unbeaten fifty in the morning session as the home team was bundled out for 329 runs while batting first. Since then, it was the Ravi Ashwin show as the local boy spun his web around and dismantled England’s batting order. He took his 29th five-wicket haul in Tests as England were folded for 134 runs in their second innings. On the back of a substantial 223-run lead in the first innings, India came out to bat in the final session and finished the day at 54/1. India vs England Highlights 2nd Test 2021 Day 2.

Rohit Sharma (25) and Cheteshwar Pujara (7) are the two batsmen at the crease, and the duo would like to extend India’s lead – which is 249 runs at the moment – even further. With three days of the game left, India have enough time to win the game, and they wouldn’t be in any hurry of declaring their innings. However, England have to take the remaining nine wickets as soon as possible to come back in the contest. Meanwhile, let’s look at the stat highlights of the second day. Ravi Ashwin Becomes 1st Bowler to Dismiss 200 Left-Handed Batsmen in Test Cricket.

# India’s total of 329 runs is the highest for a Test team in an innings without conceding an extra run.

# Rishabh Pant scored his sixth half-century in Test cricket.

# Moeen Ali hasn’t reached double figures in his last five Test innings.

# Ravi Ashwin dismissed Ben Stokes for the ninth time in Test cricket.

# Ashwin took his 29th five-wicket haul in Test matches and fourth Test five-for at the Chepauk Stadium.

# The off-spinner also displaced Harbhajan Singh as Indian bowler with second-most wickets (266) in home Test matches.

# Stuart Broad bagged his 36th duck in Test cricket, joint second-most for any player.

# Ashwin became the first bowler to dismiss 200 left-handed batsmen in Test cricket.

Notably, India lost the first Test by 227 runs and are trailing 0-1 in the four-match series. They can’t afford to lose any more games in the series to make a place in the inaugural ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final. On the other hand, England need to win at least two of the remaining three Tests to book a clash with New Zealand in the summit clash.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 14, 2021 04:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).