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London, Aug 15 (AP): England moved into a strong position on the fourth morning of the second test against India on Sunday after two wickets from Mark Wood and Sam Curran’s dismissal of Virat Kohli.
Joe Root’s magnificent 180 not out helped England to a 27-run first-innings lead on day three but early wickets were needed to force home that slender advantage.
Wood provided two of them, with KL Rahul caught behind and Rohit Sharma falling into a brazen bouncer trap to leave the scores level at 27-2.
Curran then took the India captain’s edge just before lunch to leave the tourists on 56-3 and a lead of 29 runs.
James Anderson had been bowled out by the final delivery on Saturday evening and was straight back into the game with the new ball on Sunday morning. He provided a a thorough examination of Rahul and Sharma, challenging their technique repeatedly in and around off stump while keeping the run-rate locked down.
At the other end, Root opted to make a quick change, whipping off Ollie Robinson after just two overs and tossing the ball to his quickest bowler, Wood.
It proved an inspired decision as Wood picked off Rahul, who followed up his first-innings 129 by nicking off for five to a 93 mph delivery.
Rohit mad some big hits off Wood and was on 21 when he launched into another full-blooded hook, but this time got a little less on it. In rushed Moeen Ali from long leg, taking a smart low catch to leave India two down with the scores level.
The job of building the lead fell to Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, with the latter taking a painstaking 35 deliveries to get off the mark. But Curran got Kohli to draw a loose push that nestled in Jos Buttler’s gloves to put England in control.