India vs England 2021: 3 interesting stats to emerge on day 2 at Oval
Team India openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul closed in on England's first innings score as they ended Day 2 at 43/0 at the Oval on Friday. The visitors still trail by 56 runs after England secured a crucial 99-run lead in the first innings.
Meanwhile, Umesh Yadav gave India a breathtaking start, removing the overnight batsmen quickly. At 62/5, India had their tail up but Ollie Pope showed exemplary resistance with Jonny Bairstow and then Moeen Ali.
Although Pope got out for a well-made 81, Chris Woakes wagged with the tail to give the hosts a handy 99-run lead. Woakes a made a merry on a flat deck, scoring a half-century before India bowled out England for 290 runs.
With 20 overs of play still left for the day, India needed to keep their wickets intact going into the 3rd day. Rohit Sharma did give a chance as he looked in a bit of a hurry to start off, but once he got settled, Rohit and KL Rahul played out the English bowlers to end the day at 43/0.
On that note, let's take a look at some of the interesting stats that emerged on day 2 of the Oval Test.
#1. Umesh Yadav registered his 150th Test wicket
Umesh Yadav, who is playing his first Test in the series, was the pick of the bowlers for India so far at the Oval. He returned with 3/76, including the wicket of England captain Joe Root with a peach of a delivery on Day 1.
Umesh continued his good run on Day 2, removing nightwatchman Craig Overton and Dawid Malan early. In the process, Umesh touched the 150th Test wicket landmark in his 49th Test.
He is the fourth-fastest among Indian pacers to reach the feat. Kapil Dev leads the chart, having reached the landmark in just 39 games.
#2. Rohit Sharma reached 15000 runs in international cricket
Rohit Sharma, who is the second-highest run-scorer (261) among Indian batters in this series, reached the 15000-run landmark in international cricket across all formats.
Rohit became only the eighth Indian batter to achieve this feat. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly, M.S. Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Mohammed Azharuddin are the other Indians with 15,000 or more international runs. Overall, he is currently 39th in the list of leading run-getters across formats.
#3. Chris Woakes becomes the 2nd batsmen to hit Jasprit Bumrah for three boundaries in a Test over
Chris Woakes, who is coming from an injury lay-off, took the Oval Test by storm. The all-rounder picked up four wickets with the ball before scoring a vital half-century. He launched an onslaught against Indian bowlers, including hitting Jasprit Bumrah for three boundaries in an over.
In the process, Woakes became the second batter after Quinton de Kock to take three boundaries from a Jasprit Bumrah over. The Proteas wicket-keeper batsman had achieved the feat in Cape Town during the 2018 tour.