India stormed their way into the driver's seat in the morning session of the fourth day’s play in the ongoing second Test by claiming five wickets to leave England in disarray.
The hosts were most desperate to take opening batter Zak Crawley’s wicket. He showed controlled aggression to register a near-flawless half-century before being removed by Kuldeep Yadav.
In search for a crucial breakthrough, India skipper Rohit Sharma turned to Kuldeep at the stroke of lunch and the wrist-spinner got the prized scalp of Crawley for 73.
In the last delivery of the 42nd over, Kuldeep bowled a leg break halfway down the track from over the wicket angling away from the batter. Crawley rocked back into the crease and tried to whip it away from his legs but the ball kept low and hit his pad.
As the Indian players appealed for LBW, the umpire firmly shook his head and Rohit seemed to agree with the decision given his unenthusiastic demeanor.
However, Kuldeep persuaded Rohit to take a review and the captain obliged with a few seconds remaining. Later, the hawkeye confirmed that the ball was actually hitting the leg-stump and the whole team instantly erupted in celebration.
Here’s the video:
Zak Crawley’s wicket was a massive blow for England just before the lunch break on Day 4. At the stroke of lunch, Jasprit Bumrah also trapped Jonny Bairstow in front of the wicket with a nip-backer to reduce the tourists to 194/6 in the chase of 399.
