5th Test Day 2 ENG 385/7 V IND 148

Stumps Report: Joe Root piled on the runs in the evening session as Englandreached 385-7 at the close of play on day two of the fifth Test against India at the Oval.

The batsman followed Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance to become the third player to pass the 50-run mark during the home side's first innings, leaving them 237 runs ahead going into the third day.

Root resumed alongside Jos Buttler after tea, but the wicketkeeper was dismissed for 45 after edging an Ishant Sharma delivery to slip.

Chris Woakes followed for a duck just 10 minutes later as Bhuvneshwar Kumar claimed his first wicket of the match, but Root continued to find the boundaries as he pushed England's lead beyond 200 runs.

Root reached 92 at stumps, while Chris Jordan added 19.

Tea Report: England have extended their lead to 98 runs after reaching 246-5 at tea on day two of the fifth Test against India at the Oval this afternoon.

Having matched the tourists' first innings score at lunch,Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance returned to the crease for England, but the captain was dismissed shortly after the action got back underway.

Cook completed his half-century in the morning, but edged a Varun Aaron ball to Murali Vijay in slip to leave the batsman 21 runs short of a ton.

Ballance (64) notched up a 50 as well, but also fell shortly after as Che Pujara took the catch off Ravichandran Ashwin's bowling, while Ian Bell (5) followed just a few overs later.

Ashwin took his second wicket of the session shortly before tea, dismissing Moeen Ali for 14, leaving Joe Root (11) and Jos Buttler (12) at the crease heading into the evening.


Lunch Report: Alastair Cook completed his half century shortly before lunch on day two of the fifth Test against India as England reached 148-1 at the end of this morning's session.

The hosts resumed on 62 without loss at the Oval, but lost Sam Robson in the second over of the day as the opening batsman mis-read a Varun Aaron delivery, allowing the ball through to strike his off-stump.

Robson's dismissal brought Gary Ballance to the crease, and he quickly built a solid partnership with the captain as England closed in on India's first-innings total of 148.

Cook continued onto 56 by the end of the session, while Ballance reached 40, leaving the scores level heading into this afternoon.