Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reached the milestone of 500 Test wickets against England at Niranjan Shah Stadium on Saturday. Ashwin reached the milestone after claiming the wicket of Zak Crawley in the 14th over of the second innings.
On the first ball of the over, Ashwin bowled a fuller delivery down the leg side. Crawley quickly went down on his knees and looked to sweep it. However, he top-edged that instead only to be caught by Rajat Patidar in a fine-leg position.
Ashwin Became 2nd Fastest Bowler To Take 500 Test Wickets
With that wicket, he also became the second-fastest to pick 500 Test wickets. Ashwin reached the landmark in his 98th Test. Murali Muralitharan is the fastest to pick 500 Test wickets, having reached the milestone in just 87 Tests.
Anil Kumble is third, reaching the landmark in 105 Tests, followed by the likes of Shane Warne (108) and Glenn McGrath (110). Ahead of the second Test match, Ravichandran Ashwin had 499 wickets and was only 1 wicket short of the milestone.
England restrict India to 445 in the first innings
Earlier, the England Cricket Team had restricted India to 445 runs on a flat wicket on Day 2 of the Test match. India was in a pretty good position at 326 for 5 at the end of stumps on day 1.
However, England fought back by sending both Kuldeep Yadav (4) and Ravindra Jadeja (112) at the score of 331. India was under pressure at that stage and needed a partnership to return to the game.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Dhruv Jurel then joined hands and led the recovery. The duo put on a 77-run partnership for the 8th over and helped India reach the 400-run mark. Ashwin, however, departed against the run of play for 37 and a few overs later, Dhruv Jurel (46) got out caught behind off Foakes.
Jasprit Bumrah added crucial 26 runs, later on, to help India finish on 445. England have been nothing short of brilliant with the bat in the second innings, courtesy of a sensational knock from Ben Duckett.
The southpaw smashed the fastest Test century by any England batter against India, reaching the landmark in just 88 balls. At the time of writing, Duckett is currently unbeaten on 130 off 108 deliveries, including 21 fours and two sixes. Joe Root has just come out in the middle. He is unbeaten on 4. England have lost two wickets for 200 runs, trailing by 245 runs.
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