India vs England 2nd Test ended on Day 4 with plenty to reflect on for the English players, especially the batsmen. It was a dismal performance by English batsmen in the first as well as the second innings. First innings, they got out for 134 and in the second innings the England score was 164, courtesy a quick fire innings of 43 by Moeen Ali. Moeen Ali was the last batsman to be dismissed.
He was done by a canny leg spinner by Kuldeep Yadav and stumped by a vibrant Rishabh Pant. Pant performance has been improving behind the stumps in the past few matches. His stumping of Moeen Ali is winning hearts on the internet. Many are calling it the ‘Spiderman Stumping’. This term ‘Spiderman’ has been associated with Pant since his video of singing an old Spiderman theme song behind the stumps went viral. Have a look at the athletic stumping:
This was the winning moment of the match. Although it was clear that India would win the Test match, it was important to pick up Moee Ali. He was going all guns blazing at the Indian spinners. He hit five sixes and three fours in his innings of 43 runs. But Kuldeep had other plans for Ali. Kuldeep bowled a flighted ball outside Ali’s off stump inviting him to hit him over the cover region, but the ball spun a big deal which didn’t allow Moeen to connect. As the ball was spinning away, it also was difficult for Pant to collect the ball properly and dislodge the bails. But Pant did it in some fashion.
Moeen Ali is left out of the squad for the final two Test matches. The last two Test matches would be played at Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. The third Test will begin from 24 February.