Virat Kohli helps India take control again as England's second Test hopes fade

India have taken a step closer to securing victory in the second Test against England in Visakhapatnam. After a top order collapse on Friday (18 November), the tourists were bowled out for 255 with Ravichandran Ashwin inflicting more damage on day three.

England offered some resistance as they quickly reduced the hosts to 40-3 before Virat Kohli took charge of the situation, hitting an unbeaten 51 as India finished the afternoon 98-3 with an overall lead of 298.

England finished day two 103-5 having already lost Alastair Cook, Moeen Ali, Ben Duckett and Haseeb Hameed, leaving them in need of a minor miracle if they were to wrestle back control of the contest.

Ben Stokes (70) and Jonny Bairstow (53) survived Friday's onslaught and resumed their partnership on Saturday morning. The partnership was broken when Bairstow was dismissed just before lunch after he was bowled by Umesh Yadav, with Stokes soon joining him shortly after the break after a review ruled against him.

Zafar Ansari registered just four runs before he too was dismissed after an ill-advised review was turned away, while Stuart Broad (13) and James Anderson were also quickly dispatched after being caught lbw by Ashwin, finishing his afternoon with superb figures of 5-67.

England hoped to peg the hosts back as quickly as possible with the ball and set to work quickly with Murali Vijay (3) and Lokesh Rahul (10) all departing inside the first 10 balls. Anderson, whose impact has been instant since returning from injury, also made quick work of Pujara (1).

The introduction of Kohli and batting partner Ajinkya Rahane (22 not out) steadied the ship for India however, leaving the hosts within sight of victory.