Morgan, Bairstow pull England out of trouble

Tottering at 66 for 4 at lunch, the visitors advanced to 174 for 4 at tea, through a fast-paced, unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 108 runs in 172 balls between Eoin Morgan (53) and wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow (51).

The unbeaten century stand between Morgan, who hit six fours and a six, and Bairstow, who struck six fours, dragged the team out of the woods in the second session.

England did not lose a single wicket in the second session after losing four top-order batsmen in the pre-lunch period.

Morgan and Bairstow took the attack to the enemy camp to add 56 runs in 14 overs in the first hour after lunch. In all, the visitors added 108 runs in 27.5 overs in the period between lunch and tea.

Morgan, unconquered on 0 at lunch, was the first to go on the attack mode immediately after the break as he danced down and hoisted rival captain Yadav for a straight field six, the first of the game.

The left-handed batsman from Middlesex then hooked a short ball from Javed Khan to the fence to bring up the 100 in the 34th over.

Morgan reached his half-century in 81 balls before Bairstow followed suit just before tea in 77 balls. MORE