Indian Batting Woes Continue As England Restrict The Visitors For 174 for 6 At The End Of Day Two Of The Fifth Test

Another Test, same old story! India's inability to counter swing bowling was highlighted yet again as they struggled to gather 174 for six wickets at the end of Day 2 of the fifth Test match at the Oval. After the Indian bowling attack did well to restrict the hosts to 198 for 7 at the end of day one, England's tailenders did brilliantly well to swing themselves back into the contest on the second day, courtesy of birthday boy Jos Buttler's ninth-wicket stand with Stuart Broad, who managed to put 332 runs on the board.

In reply, Indian top batting order crumbled once again after Shikhar Dhawan failed to put an end to his disastrous run which saw him being trapped in between the stumps by Staurt Broad. The southpaw departed after scoring just 3 runs. Though, KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara managed to steady the ship by posting identical scores of 37 runs, before the English bowlers got into the groove. 

Rahul looked set for big innings, looking far more composed at the crease hitting 4 fours during the course of his innings. However, his defense at the crease was breached by Sam Curran, who produced a peach to dismiss the Indian batsman. Thereafter, the Indian batting line-up crumbled with James Anderson wrecking havoc, dismissing both Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane in quick succession.

Virat Kohli took the crease and seemed the confident self he has been throughout the Test series. The Indian skipper hit six boundaries during his 70-ball knock and it looked like he was about to take his team out of troubled waters yet again. Not until Ben Stokes put an end to Kohli's innings by edging his delivery to Joe Root present in the cordon slip. The Indian captain departed for 49 runs.

Ben Stokes continued to run riot after he dismissed Rishabh Pant for 5 runs, who was dismissed in a similar style as of Kohli's, but only this time the catch landed into the hands of Alastair Cook in the slip cordon. Debutant Hanuman Vihari survived few scares and managed to stitch a 30-run partnership along with Jadeja, with the duo getting the total to 174 runs for the loss of 6 wickets at the stumps on day 2. 

Given the way things stands, England looks in a favorable position to win the fifth Test match. The same story same story seems to repeat itself where the team has been coming closer and closer to a win, but each time a victory seemed in sight, they give it away.