Moeen Ali was dismissed for 146, his second highest Test score, as India’s bowlers made a strong comeback on Day 2 of the fifth and final Test against England on Saturday. (SCORECARD)
The left-handed batsman, whose unbeaten 120 overnight had helped England enjoy a rare good day in the series they trail 3-0, was peppered with a series of short deliveries by Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. (UPDATES)
He finally succumbed to the tactic, holing out to Ravindra Jadeja at square leg to an Umesh Yadav short delivery. He hit 13 fours and a straight six off Ravichandran Ashwin in his 262-ball knock.
England were 352 for seven at lunch, but Indian bowlers restricted them to 68 runs for the loss of three wickets.
Ashwin, the leading wickettaker in the series who had a rare off day on Friday, struck with the fifth delivery of the day when he had all-rounder Ben Stokes caught behind. It was the fifth time in the series that Ashwin has removed Stokes.
Ishant, who bowled consistently in the right areas and at good pace in his first Test since the West Indies tour, trapped Jos Buttler (5) with a straight delivery.
{{/usCountry}}Ishant, who bowled consistently in the right areas and at good pace in his first Test since the West Indies tour, trapped Jos Buttler (5) with a straight delivery.
{{/usCountry}}He then struck debutant left-arm spinner Liam Dawson flush on the helmet off the second delivery he faced in Test cricket, after the batsman failed to sway out of the way. The England physio attended to him, but Dawson continued without any problem.
Ishant had excellent figures of two for 34 off 18 overs.
Moeen Ali and Joe Root had led England’s strong start on the opening day, raising a 146-run third-wicket partnership after being reduced to 21 for two. Root, the England vice-captain, was caught behind off Ravindra Jadeja trying to sweep for 88, dashing his hopes of scoring a deserved century.
Jadeja, India’s most successful bowler on the first day, was brought on only in the morning’s 18th over and bowled just four overs.