After Ollie Pope’s 196 allowed England to set India a decent target of 231, England spinners made life hard for the hosts in an engrossing middle session on the fourth day in Hyderabad. Jack Leach bowled with a strapped left leg and Tom Hartley bowled with renewed confidence after a tough start to life in Test cricket in the first innings. The left-arm spinner picked each of the three wickets to fall as India entered Tea at 95/3.
India sent in left-handed Axar Patel at No.5 to combat the spinners turning the ball away from the right-handers and it worked. Patel took on leggie Rehan Ahmed, driving two full deliveries, compelling him to change his lengths and then pulled a short one for another four in a 13-run over. KL Rahul meanwhile, brought out the sweep shot against Hartley. The duo took India to within 136 runs of the target at the end of the second session.
However, things went from bad to worse for India on the other side of the Tea break with wickets coming thick and fast. The home side was soon teetering at 119/7 as England tightened their grasp on the first Test.
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