Bumrah stars as India down England to level Test series

Visakhapatnam, Feb. 6: Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah took a match haul of nine wickets to lead India's 106-run win over England in the second Test on Monday and level the five-match series.

Chasing a record 399 for victory, England were bowled for 292 in the second session on day four in Visakhapatnam, despite an attacking start and Zak Crawley's 73.

Bumrah and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who ended the match on 499 Test wickets, took three each in the final innings and the pace spearhead bowled Tom Hartley to complete the win.

Shubman Gill set up the comeback victory for the hosts with his 104 on day three to set England, who won the opener, a daunting target. England came out swinging with their "Bazball" brand of cricket, Crawley and company hitting boundaries despite losing wickets. Left-arm spinner Axar Patel broke through when he trapped Rehan Ahmed lbw for 23, after the nightwatchman hit five fours in his 31-ball knock.

Ollie Pope hammered five boundaries in his brief stay at the wicket, before Ashwin had him caught at slip on 23.

Joe Root showed no signs of the finger injury which kept him out of the field for much of Sunday as he reverse-swept for two fours.

But he fell for 16 while attempting a slog off Ashwin, who remains one away from entering the 500-wicket club.

The chase soon lost steam with two wickets in five balls before lunch, including Crawley out lbw off left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav. The lbw appeal was turned down by the on-field umpire but India successfully reviewed the call.

Jonny Bairstow followed just four balls later, with England at 194-6. Captain Ben Stokes attempted to get the chase back on track after lunch, but a direct hit by Shreyas Iyer had the left-hander run out on 11 after he looked to steal a quick single.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Ben Foakes (36) and the left-handed Hartley (also 36) put on a stubborn stand of 55 but Bumrah broke through to get Foakes caught and bowled.

But the Three Lions stuck to their fearless style, which has got them 14 wins in 20 matches under coach Brendon McCullum, nicknamed "Baz", and Stokes.

Bumrah played a key role with his six wickets in England's first-innings total of 253 as the tourists conceded a crucial lead of 143.

Veteran England pace bowler James Anderson finished with a match haul of five wickets to take his tally to 695 in a glittering Test career, which began in 2003.

The third Test starts February 15 in Rajkot and the teams will take a break beforehand, with England expected to fly to the United Arab Emirates for the week.

10-wicket win for Sri Lanka

Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya finished with eight wickets in the match to lead Sri Lanka to an emphatic 10-wicket win in the only test against Afghanistan, wrapping up the victory on the fourth day Monday.

Angelo Mathews (141) and Dinesh Chandimal (107) formed Sri Lanka's backbone in the fist innings which helped them score 439 runs and take a 241 run lead.

Afghanistan made 198 in the first innings and was bowled out for 296 in the second, giving Sri Lanka a target of 56 runs to win. Dimuth Karunaratne (32 not out) and Nishan Madushka (22 not out) knocked the target easily in the eighth over.

Earlier, the tourists crumbled from their strong start to reach 252-7 at lunch, having started the day on 199-1. Ibrahim Zadran made 114 for Afghanistan, his maiden test century.

Afghanistan started the day needing 42 runs to cover the deficit and hoping to build a fighting score, after Ibrahim Zadran and Noor Ali Zadran (47) had shared a century stand, their highest for the first wicket.

After Noor Ali's departure, Ibrahim had put on an unbeaten 93 runs for the second wicket with Rahmat Shah. But inexperienced tourists failed to build on that momentum.

Fast bowler Kasun Rajitha, who was called up as a concussion substitute for Chamika Gunasekara, had the first breakthrough after Sri Lanka took the second new ball as he had Shah caught behind by Sadeera Samarawickrama for 54 runs. It was Shah's second half-century of the match, having top-scored with 91 runs in the fist innings.

Jayasuriya took 5-107, his seventh five-wicket haul and finished the game with 8-174 on a batting friendly pitch.