Pragyan Ojha bags brace as England take Tea at 77/2

 

Pragyan Ojha took two wickets, those of Nick Compton (29) and Jonathan Trott (0), as England went into Tea at 75 for two on day two of the second Test at the Wankhede Stadium. The visitors trail India by 250 runs.

Responding to india's first innings total of 327, captain Alastair Cook (43 not out) was the only man surviving from England's top three batsmen going into Tea after the three Indian spinners took advantage of the turn and bounce at the Wankhede.

Ojha (five for 37) was the most productive bowler for India captain MS Dhoni as he got Compton caught in first slip and trapped Trott leg-before to end England's bright start.

Cook and Compton had looked good in the second session, sharing a 66-run stand before Ojha struck.

Earlier in the day, Monty Panesar took his 11th five-wicket hall in a Test innings, while Graeme Swann got four wickets as England bowled out India for 327 at Lunch.

The English spinners ran through the Indian lower order, as Cheteshwar Pujara waged a short-lived, yet lone battle for India, scoring 135. India will be happy with their 300-plus total on a dust bowl of a track that has a lot of turn and bounce, perfect for the three-pronged spin attack of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ojha and Harbhajan Singh.

Pujara started the day with No 8 Ashwin (68), who had scored a defiant fifty on day one. But the Indian off-spinner was soon to fall to Panesar (five for 129) leg-before. Harbhajan Singh then walked in and smacked a couple of boundaries and a six before becoming Swann's 200th wicket in Test cricket.

But the big wicket for England came when Swann got Pujara; it was the first time in the series that he had been dismissed . The Saurashtra batsman was been beaten in the flight after leaving the crease after Swann tossed it up wide. The ball refused to turn and beat the outside edge; Prior did the rest to get a much coveted wicket for the Englishmen.

Brief Scores: India 327 (Cheteshwar Pujara 135, Ravichandran Ashwin 68; Monty Panesar 5 for 129, Greame Swann 4 for 70) lead England 77 for 2 (Alastair Cook 43*, Nick Compton 29; Pragyan Ojha 2 for 37) by 250 runs.