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Opener Zak Crawley did score a half-century but a five-wicket haul by Kuldeep Yadav and a dominant performance by Indian spinners restricted England to 194/8 at the end of the second session on day one of the fifth and final Test at Dharamsala on Thursday.
At Tea, Ben Foakes (8*) and Shoaib Bashir (5*) were unbeaten for England. England started the second session at 100/2, with Crawley (61* in 71 balls, with nine fours and a six) unbeaten at the crease. Root and Crawley attacked pacer Jasprit Bumrah with some solid shotmaking. Kuldeep Yadav landed India their breakthrough, clean bowling Crawley for 79 in 108 balls, with 11 fours and a six. England was 137/3. With the help of a four by Jonny Bairstow on a Ravindra Jadeja delivery, England reached the 150-run mark in 41 overs. Kuldeep continued to run through the English middle-order, removing Bairstow for 29 in 18 balls. The batter's counterattacking knock had two fours and two sixes and he was caught by Dhruv Jurel. England was 175/4. Indian spinners were all over England, with Ravindra Jadeja trapping Root leg-before-wicket for 26. England was 175/5. Kuldeep got his five-wicket haul as he removed England skipper Ben Stokes for a duck. England was 175/6. Ravichandran Ashwin, playing his 100th Test, joined the party as well, with wickets of Tom Hartley (6) and Mark Wood (0). England ended the second session with two wickets to go, just a few runs away from the 200-run mark. Kuldeep (5/72) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Ashwin (2/39) also bowled really well. Jadeja also took a wicket. Earlier, an attacking half-century by opener Zak Crawley and his half-century partnership with Ben Duckett helped England end the first session on high, with a score of 100/2 on day one of the fifth and final Test against India at Dharamshala on Thursday. At Lunch, England was 100/2, with Crawley (61* in 71 balls, with nine fours and a six) unbeaten at the crease. During the first ten overs, England was off to a cautious start, with Zak being the aggressor. Duckett struggled to get more boundaries and played a very unusual defensive game. England scored just 35 runs in their first ten overs. Duckett's sweep shot on a delivery by Ravichandran Ashwin, playing his 100th Test took England to the 50-run mark in 14.2 overs. The duo tried to attack spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the 18th over, smashing a boundary each, but the spinner had the last laugh, removing Duckett (27 in 58 balls, with four boundaries). Shubman Gill took a fine diving catch running from the cover region. England was 64/1. Ollie Pope was next up on the crease. He held the other end while Crawley freely attacked the spinners. He reached his half-century, his fourth of the series in 64 balls, with nine boundaries. England reached the 100-run mark in 25.1 overs. Just when it seemed that the duo of Pope and Crawley would build something big, Pope was dismissed by Kuldeep, with Dhruv Jurel pulling off a brilliant stumping. England was 100/2 in 25.3 overs, ending the first session. Kuldeep (2/22) was the pick of the bowlers for India at the end of the first session. Brief Scores: England: 194/8 (Zak Crawley 79, Jonny Bairstow 29, Kuldeep Yadav 5/72) vs India. (ANI)
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