India and England are currently facing each other in the third match of the five-match IND vs ENG Test series. The match between the two teams began on February 15 (Thursday) at the newly renamed Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot.
The game remains close after two days of play. Both teams have played some magnificent cricket and the way things have unfolded everything looks set for an exciting finish. The match is likely to last five days.
India won the toss and opted to bat first. It was a terrible start for them with the bat as they were left reeling at 33/3. But after that, captain Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja got the team out of trouble and put England on the back foot with their sensational two hundred run partnership.
They added 204 runs together and got the team out of trouble. While Rohit Sharma scored 131 runs, Ravindra Jadeja finished with a total of 112 runs. His association put India in a dominant position. After that, Sarfaraz Khan played 63 innings.
Dhruv Jurel (46) and Ravichandran Ashwin (37) played vital hands and gave India a decent total. A late charge by Jasprit Bumrah (26) propelled India to a total of 445 runs. For England, Mark Wood was the pick of the players with his figures of 4/114.
England then got off to a powerful start to their innings. Zak Crawley (15) and Ben Duckett added 89 runs together and put India under tremendous pressure. Ollie Pope (39) also contributed a vital hand but the hero of the day for the visitors was Duckett.
Ben Duckett remained undefeated at 133 and put the team in a dominant position. On Day 2, England were at 207/2 and are just 238 runs away.
IND vs ENG: Launch Report and Weather Report for Day 3
Speaking after the end of Day 2 of IND vs ENG, Ravichandran Ashwin gave an update on the field. He said the course would get tougher as the day progressed. He said the first three days of play would be good for the hitters. In statements to the stations, he explained:
“The surfaces we have played on in this series have given the batsmen time over the first three days. Expect this pitch to get tough on Day 5. We need to exercise discipline, England have been in those positions before. I think the game is at stake, they are putting pressure on us, but it is important that we maintain our composure and stay in the game.”
Ravichandran Ashwin’s statement hints that the pitch will favor the batsmen on Day 3. This indicates that the bowlers need to work hard on their lines and lengths. It created a slight irregularity in the field and could favor the spinners at the end of the day.
Talking about the weather in Rajkot, tomorrow (February 16) is expected to be a sunny day. The temperature is expected to be 36° on Saturday and humidity will be around 41% during the day. Cloud cover is expected to be very low and precipitation to be 0%. The weather report indicates that there will be a full day of play in play.