Fifth Test: India 53/1 in reply to England's 332 (Tea report)

Replying to England's first innings total of 332 runs, India were 53/1 at Tea on the second day of the fifth and final Test at the oval here on Saturday.

After wrapping up the hosts in the post-lunch session, the visitors were off to a shaky start as opener Shikhar Dhawan (3) fell cheaply, becoming a victim of Stuart Broad, who picked him up in front of the wicket with just six runs on India's scorecard.

However, the other opener Lokesh Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara then played sensibly, putting on 47 runs and taking India past the 50-run mark.

Rahul and Pujara were unbeaten at 35 and 15 runs respectively at the time of the tea break.

Earlier, England were bowled out for 332 in their first innings.

Opener Alastair Cook (71), Jos Buttler (89) and Moeen Ali (50) starred with the bat to help their side reach a respectable total, while left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the Indian bowlers, claiming four English wickets for 79 runs.

Apart from Jadeja, pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Ishant Sharma shared three wickets each conceding 83 and 62 runs respectively.

Earlier in the day, England resumed from their overnight score of 198/7 and after the addition of just 16 runs to their overnight score, the hosts received the first blow as Jadeja caught Rashid (15) in front of the stumps.

Buttler was then joined by Broad and the duo denied the visiting bowlers any further success as they fought back with a 90-run partnership to help England reach 304/8 at lunch.

Later, starting the post-lunch session from 304/8, the hosts could only manage to add another 28 runs as Jadeja struck twice to wrap up England.

Two overs after the play resumed in the afternoon session, Jadeja came up with a much needed breakthrough for India, breaking the crucial 98-run partnership between Stuart Broad (38) and Buttler. Broad while trying to drive a length ball by Jadeja over mid-on, handed a sensational catch to Lokesh Rahul with the hosts scorecard reading 312/9.

Jadeja then also ended the English innings, sending back a well settled Buttler, who was racing towards his ton.

Looking for a big shot on a length ball, which turned a bit, a thick edge off Buttler's bat landed in the hands of Ajinkya Rahane at the slip.

Brief scores: England: 332 all out (Jos Buttler 89, Alastair Cook 71; Ravindra Jadeja 4/79, Ishant Sharma 3/62) vs India 53/1 (Lokesh Rahul 35, Cheteshwar Pujara 15; Stuart Broad 1/12) at Tea on Day 2.

--IANS

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