188 and 144 - the number of deliveries faced by Alastair Cook and Haseeb Hameed respectively for their scores of 54 and 25 on Day 4. However, their spirited knocks came to an end late on the penultimate day, much to England's despair and India's delight. The two players, who know every word of the 'How to save a Test match' text-book are back in the pavilion after their gritty display. Can Joe Root and Co. take a leaf out of the same book and prevent India from taking a 1-0 lead? Or Will R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Co. run through England's batting order? An engrossing final day's play is on the cards. Hello and welcome to our coverage of the fifth day's play of the second Test at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam.
India vs England, 2nd Test - Live Cricket Score, Commentary
"Ultimately we achieved what we wanted. We are happy at getting two wickets at the end of the day. Possibly, day five, I don't think it [the pitch] will be easy to bat on because as we saw, cracks are opening up even on day four, it was difficult. Even on day three - the second and third sessions were difficult to bat on.
"Here if you play defensive also, it is not very easy. I believe this wicket is such that if you play defensive, it is slightly difficult to get a batsman out but still as we saw today, there is low bounce. One or two balls from Ashwin bounced, from the rough Jaddu [Jadeja] was able to get a lot of bounce. Even if you play defensive also it is not easy, I don't think it will be an easy task to bat on this wicket,"
So, as India end the Vizag Test with a 1-0 lead, it's also time for us to bid good bye. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. Join us again for the Mohali Test, which starts on November 26.
Kohli (MoM): "It's been a lucky ground for me. Every innings I've scored here. I get a good feel coming here, similar to Adelaide. The atmosphere in the stadium is such that you want to play exciting cricket. Support was priceless. Helps you push through tough situations. We wanted to make sure we bat deep in the first innings, get 450+ and that's exactly what we did. From there on the bowlers are on top. That's what we did in Rajkot, scoreboard pressure counts in Test cricket. It was tough in the second innings. Had to dig it out. The idea was to show intent and get as many runs as possible. I was striking the ball well.
"Biggest positive is the way the fast bowlers bowled. And Jayant Yadav. Picked one wicket in the first innings, three in the second. Brilliant with the bat, showed great character. It's priceless those contributions. The young man, to show the character he did speaks volumes. I'm very happy with the start he's had. For a young man to come in and have the vision to take wickets and to tell you about the fields and the lines to bowl the batsman out. You know this guy knows what he's doing. Even the revs on the ball and the speed he bowled with. I knew the batsmen were uncomfortable against him. It's lovely to have all 5 bowlers who can give you wickets at crucial stages.
"We're playing some really good cricket. Don't want to be complacent. We respect the team England is. They're going to play quality cricket in Mohali. Need to strike the right balance of not getting too desperate and not getting complacent either."
Alastair Cook:"Not a great moment [his dismissal yesterday]. We knew going into the last day, nine wickets [would have been great], obviously disappointing to get out right at the end. The first day was the easiest to bat. It became harder after that. Was a good toss to win, no doubt about it. Disappointed at losing those five wickets on Day 2. India is where you have to score first-innings runs. You saw how hard it was for India in the second innings. Obviously Virat played very well.
"It's about trying to get parity in the first innings. After losing those five wickets, we showed a lot of character and fight. We set our stall in the fourth innings which means the margin of victory is greater but we worked hard. We go to Mohali. It's hard. We've played some good cricket at certain stages, managed to put India under pressure. Only takes a couple of games to get back in the series. Really exciting place to be as a side. We've lost this game but we hold our heads high. We appreciate all the support here."
Ashwin had words of praise for the debutant after the game: He [Jayant] is a great kid. His work ethics are great and I wanted him to do well. Has a strong temperament. He is very calm and is prepared to learn. Nothing hurried about his action. His contributions in both the innings have been fantastic. I had a 30-day break before the series, so I started slow at Rajkot. Worked on the right pace to bowl here. It was a tricky pitch to bowl on. Playing spin was not difficult, something I realised while batting. I kept my pace down a lot and then increased it to beat the outside edge, and kept batsmen in the uncomfortable zone. I had to tighten my game a lot in order to try and push myself up the order. Have done the hard yards and was a little disappointed to throw it away in the 2nd innings. Had a good partnership with Jayant in the first innings and loved the communication while batting with him."
Jayant responds: "He [Ashwin] is really great. To be bowling in tandem with Ashwin is great. He takes the pressure off and you can express yourself in the best way possible. Never questions what you are doing and tells you in a positive way about what can be done better. I am really glad that I did [well]. There were nerves on the first day. You just think about the next ball, while batting and bowling. On this wicket, you look to hit the wicket and be consistent, because the ball was misbehaving. And then varying my pace."
