Axar Patel took a five-wicket haul on debut as India defeated England by 317 runs in the second Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, levelling the series 1-1. It was indeed a test of character for the home team as they suffered a humiliating 227-run defeat in the first Test at the same venue. However, Virat Kohli’s men made a terrific bounce back and outplayed England in all the departments. All-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin was the stand-out performer in the game, scoring a hundred and taking eight wickets. Notably, India also advance to the second place in the ICC World Test Championship rankings after this game whereas the Three Lions slipped down to the fourth position. Ravi Ashwin Joins Richard Hadlee in Elite List with Double of Five-Wicket Haul and Half-Century.

Chasing a daunting target of 482 runs at a rank-turner, the visitors resumed Day 4 at their overnight score of 54/3. As expected, the batting side couldn’t put up any fight with spin trio Axar Patel, Ravi Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav making impeccable use of the track. Patel was lethal particularly as he scalped a five-wicket haul on debut as England were folded for 164 runs in their last innings. Meanwhile, let’s look at the stat highlights of Day four of the second day. Ravi Ashwin Becomes 1st Bowler to Dismiss 200 Left-Handed Batsmen in Test Cricket.

# India registered their fifth biggest Test victory in terms of runs (317).

# Axar Patel becomes the ninth Indian to get a five-wicket haul on Test debut.

# Kuldeep Yadav took his first Test wicket after more than two years.

# Moeen Ali reached double figures after five Test innings.

# Virat Kohli equals MS Dhoni’s record of most Test wins at home as Indian captain (23).

# Kohli also equalled Mohammad Azharuddin’s record of second-most wins at home as Indian skipper (53).

# Ravichandran Ashwin has dismissed Ben Stokes for the 10th times in Tests – the joint-most he has dismissed any batsmen.

With this win, the four-match series is perfectly poised at 1-1. The third game, which will be a Day-Night Test, will get underway on February 24 at the newly-inaugurated Motera Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 16, 2021 12:51 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).