England face record run chase in India as Joe Root leaves field injured in second Test match

England were left on 67-1 in their second innings at the close of play on day three as they chased a target of 399 in the second Test against India.

England had been bowled out for 253 in their first innings, trailing India by 143, and the hosts started on 28-0 on the third day.

The visitors retained hope in a difficult position because they had overturned a 190-run deficit to win the first Test, and their bowling performance was more effective in the second attempt in Visakhapatnam.

James Anderson took both openers’ wickets, bowling captain Rohit Sharma for 13 and then having Yashasvi Jaiswal caught for 17 by Joe Root.

That led to the introduction of Shubman Gill, who evaded dismissal when he edged Tom Hartley to slip, with a failed catch from Root meaning England’s batsman left the field for treatment, sparking concern.

Root did not return to the field after tea, as the England team said he was icing his finger, which would indicate that the injury was not necessarily too serious.

Gill would ultimately be dismissed by Shoaib Bashir, caught by Ben Foakes, but not before he contributed 104 runs.

However, with the exception of Axar Patel’s 45 and Shreyas Iyer’s 29 - caught brilliantly by Ben Stokes with a diving over-the-shoulder effort from Hartley’s bowling - India’s wickets fell regularly and cheaply.

Ravichandran Ashwin was left to shepherd the tail, with Jasprit Bumrah falling for a 26-ball duck for Hartley’s fourth wicket, to leave India 398 ahead with a single wicket remaining.

Rehan Ahmed took Ashwin’s wicket to leave England facing a chase of 399 to go two clear in the five-Test series.

Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley opened brightly as they chased what would be the highest fourth-innings winning total in India, but Duckett fell to Ashwin for 28.

Ahmed was sent in to protect the top order and added nine alongside Crawley’s 29 as England closed on 67-1.

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