India made a strong reply with the bat after the home side bowled England out for 400 runs on day two of the fourth Test at Mumbai on Friday. The hosts reached 146 for 1 at the end of day’s play.
After Ashwin took two more wickets on day two to return with innings figures of 6/112, Murali Vijay (70*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (47*) strung an unbeaten partnership of 107 runs.
India, who are 2-0 up in the five-match Test series, now trail England by 254 runs with nine first innings wickets in hand on a Wankhede Stadium track offering copious turn and bounce to the spinners.
Vijay and Pujara’s second wicket partnership of 107 runs came from 228 balls and it was their seventh 100-plus stand in Tests and second of the series after the double century stand in the drawn series opener at Rajkot.
Earlier, the Indian spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja claimed all the 10 wickets between them to bowl England out for 400 in the visitors' first innings, 22 minutes into the second session.
Ashwin bagged his 23rd five-wicket haul in his 43rd match, while left-arm spinner Jadeja claimed figures of 4/109. Ashwin has now equalled legendary Kapil Dev's tally of 23 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket to be just behind Anil Kumble (35) and Harbhajan Singh (25).
The home team grabbed three wickets in the first session after England resumed their innings on 288 for five and then claimed the last two wickets within six overs after lunch.
Jos Buttler was the last man to be dismissed for 76, the second-highest scorer after the 112 made by debutant opener Keaton Jennings on Thursday. He was bowled by Jadeja after he faced 137 balls and hit six fours and one six.
Jadeja had grabbed two out of three wickets in the first session – sending back Chris Woakes (11) and Adil Rashid (4) – after Ashwin had given the first break for the home side with the dismissal of overnight batsman Ben Stokes for 31.
Ashwin, who had four scalps in his kitty on day one, added another wicket by dismissing the tall number ten batsman Jake Ball (31 off 60 balls) who added 54 runs with Buttler for the ninth wicket, a very useful stand.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)