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THE TIMES OF INDIA | Feb 24, 2024, 09:24:19 IST
IND vs ENG 4th Test, Day 2 Live - Joe Root hit an unbeaten 106 to lead England's recovery from early trouble after Indian fast bowler Akash Deep took three wickets on debut in the fourth Test on Friday. England, who are fighting to stay alive at 2-1 down in the five-match series, reached stumps at 302 for 7 after electing to bat first in Ranchi. The tourists slipped to 112-5 but Root, with just 77 runs over his previous six innings, found his form to put on a 113-run stand with wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes, who made 47. Mohammed Siraj broke the partnership with the wicket of Foakes but former captain Root stood firm and had Ollie Robinson, on 31, for company in an unbeaten stand of 57 at the close of play. Root's 31st Test ton came after a torrent of criticism for throwing away his wicket off a reverse scoop as England lost the third Test. The veteran batsman reached his hundred with a boundary off Deep and then took off his helmet and raised his bat to a standing ovation from the England players and fans. Root and Foakes kept calm in an uncharacteristically patient show of batting by England, a temporary departure from their attacking "Bazball" style, which denied India a wicket in the afternoon session. Siraj was brought back into the attack after tea and the pace spearhead swung the ball to get Foakes caught at mid-wicket before bowling Tom Hartley for 13. Root ploughed on with just nine boundaries in his 226-ball stay to give his team a much-needed boost on a cracked pitch expected to turn more. The 27-year-old Deep shone as a replacement for Jasprit Bumrah, who has been rested, and had a scintillating start after getting his first Test cap from coach Rahul Dravid. Deep thought he had got opener Zak Crawley on four only to overstep the crease for a no-ball. Crawley, who went on to make 42, counter-attacked and hammered Siraj for four straight boundaries, including three fours and a six. Deep got his first international wicket when Ben Duckett was caught behind for 11. He struck again two balls later to trap Ollie Pope lbw for a duck, a decision denied by the on-field umpire but successfully reviewed by India after the tracker showed the ball would have hit the top of leg stump. Deep then bowled Crawley with another beauty that darted in to the opener and rattled the stumps, as England slipped to 57-3 in only the first hour of play. Root and Jonny Bairstow put together 52 runs before Ravichandran Ashwin had Bairstow lbw on 38 in another successful Indian review. Skipper Ben Stokes was trapped lbw by Ravindra Jadeja for three on the stroke of lunch to leave England in serious trouble.
After watching the first few overs we thought the ball would behave like that all day. But it seems to flatten out as the ball got older and it will be interesting to see how it reacts today morning. It is about keeping my training going and whenever I am called upon I am ready to play. He (Akash Deep) bowled really well. Someone we have looked at on how he bowled and used the crease. It is about hitting the right lengths and allowing the pitch to do the rest. Yesterday we were looking at 250, but we are at 300 and if we can get to 350 and the wicket breaks up a little, it would be a good total.
Ollie Robinson
IND vs ENG Live Score: PITCH REPORT
Day one was a story of two halves, there was plenty of help in the first session but it eased out as the day progressed. England are absolutely delighted with their position, scoring 200 runs on this surface. But as we said it has played better than it has looked. The balls that have kept low have been outside off-stump apart from the one Stokes got. There is one crack right in the middle around the short of good length and the ball will misbehave if the ball lands there. It is difficult to play horizontal bat shots and playing with a straight bat is the way to go. This is not a Bazball pitch.
He (Root) is unbelievable. We fully expected him to get a good score at some point in this series; he was due, he's the best player we've ever had and he played phenomenally. He deserves everything he gets, he works so hard at his game and he always comes good. He's probably the only bloke in our team who could have done that knock; he's that good, he's our best player and he's stepped up when we needed him to. We needed him to get a score and he got a score like he's done for so many years now, he's a phenomenal player.
Zak Crawley
IND vs ENG Live Score: Joe Root's century was due, says Crawley
England opener Zak Crawley on Friday said that a century from Joe Root was long due and the veteran batter's unbeaten 106 on Day 1 of the fourth Test against India was a "phenomenal" knock under the circumstances.
After losing half of the side at lunch for 112, England rode on Root's determined 106 not out to end day one on 302 for 7 in the fourth Test against India.
On this day: Legendary Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to score an ODI double century
In Indian cricket’s theatre of dreams, Akash Deep is holding centrestage. The fast bowler’s weather beaten frame betrays his years of strife. No wonder he looks older than his 27 years. On Friday, he bowled with control and venom with the new ball, like his life depended on it. Maybe it does, for his is a life shaken by tragedy and shaped by tenacity.
Akash Deep's father Ramji Singh, a physical education teacher in a Government High School, never wanted him to become a cricketer. He was paralysed after retirement and was bed-ridden for five years before breathing his last in February 2015. In the October of the same year, Akash Deep's elder brother Dhiraj died on his way to a hospital in Varanasi following a brief illness, leaving behind two daughters and wife.
Ashwin vs England!
Stat attack
First ton of the series for Root
Root's unbeaten 106 off 226 balls, which was made at a strike rate of 46.90, was, perhaps, the most anti-Bazball innings that might have been played in the Brendon McCullum era. But then Root needed to rediscover that dogged Yorkie inside him – for himself and the team. He entered the fourth Test against India on the back of 29, 2, 5, 16, 18, 7 in his last Test innings and that 18 in the first innings at Rajkot might have hurt him deeply.
Root-Foakes crucial stand
After lunch, England had gone down a gear in a successful bid to rescue the innings as Root and Ben Foakes put on 113 runs for the sixth wicket. The visitors had scored at more than four an over in the morning session, but the rate fell to below three. England reached 198-5 at tea, scoring 86 runs in the second session spanning 36.5 overs but crucially without losing a wicket.
Root rescue on opening day
Under-fire Joe Root scored his 31st ton on Friday as England recovered from a poor start to reach 302 for 7 at stumps on the opening day of the fourth game against India. Root, who had yet to reach 30 in this series and was widely criticized for his dismissal after a reverse ramp shot in the third Test, turned round his poor form and finished the day on 106 not out. He faced 226 balls, with nine fours, and in the process rescued England from a precarious 112-5 at lunch.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Day 2 of the fourth Test between India and England in Ranchi.
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