Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal achieved several feats with his unbeaten 179-run knock on Day 1 of the second Test in Visakhapatnam. On the other end, wickets fell at regular intervals as batters departed after getting good starts. It was the first time in Test cricket’s history that no.3, 4, 5, and 6 batters got dismissed between 25 and 35. Jaiswal’s century helped India post 336/6 before the end of the day’s play.
Earlier, Rohit won the toss and opted to bat first. Joe Root opened the bowling from the other end. Jaiswal was in no mood to spare him and hit two fours. Boundaries dried up for more than 10 overs as Rohit curbed his instinct to attack. In the 13th over, Jaiswal hit Root for a boundary. After the drinks break, Shoaib Bashir got the breakthrough. Rohit edged it to backward square fielder Ollie Pope. He scored 14 runs from 41 balls.
Struggling for form, Shubman Gill used his feet well to counter the spinners. But he became James Anderson's only wicket of the day. In the 29th over, Gill edged one to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes off Anderson's bowling. He scored 34 runs from 46 balls including five fours. In the next over, Jaiswal hit the first six of the innings. He followed it up with a boundary to reach his half-century from 89 balls. At lunch break, India were 103/2.
While Shreyas Iyer took his time in the middle, Jaiswal pounced on opportunities to hit boundaries. He smashed Root for another six. In the 45th over, Jaiswal hit Tom Hartley for three consecutive fours. In the 49th over, Jaiswal smashed Hartley for a six to reach his second Test hundred. He took 151 deliveries to reach his maiden Test hundred at home. In the 51st over, Iyer lost his wicket trying to play a cut shot. The under-edge was caught by Foakes. He scored 27 runs from 59 balls including three fours. On debut Rajit Patidar had an early reprieve as he survived a run-out scare. After a nervy start, Patidar found boundaries. At the end of the second session, India were 225/3.
Jaiswal took on Rehan Ahmed and hit him for a six and a four each. In the 72nd over, Patidar got bowled by Rehan. He scored 32 runs from 72 balls including three fours. Batting ahead of Srikar Bharat, Axar Patel got a start as well. Meanwhile, Jaiswal reached his 150 with a boundary from 224 balls. But he went on the attack against Bashir and paid the price for it. He went for a cut shot but ended up handing an easy catch to backward point fielder Ahmed. He scored 27 runs from 51 balls.
In the 90th over, Bharat became the first batter other than Jaiswal to hit a six in the day's play. But Bharat lost patience as well. It was an action replay of Patel's wicket but this time Rehan was bowling and Bashir took the catch. Towards the end of Day 1, Jaiswal struggled with his right arm and received medical attention on the field. After taking a painkiller he resumed. Ravichandran Ashwin hit a boundary off the penultimate delivery of the day. Jaiswal remained unbeaten for 179 off 257 balls as India had 336/6 on the board.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
Big update on Virat Kohli's availability for third Test against England in Rajkot
