England, through Stuart Broad and James Anderson, fought valiantly to keep India in check on the last session of the third day of the second Test in Visakhapatnam but Virat Kohli’s brilliance yet again dug India out of a hole. From floundering at 17/2 and 40/3 at one stage, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane’s unbeaten 58-run partnership ensured India finished the day with a big lead of 298.

To their credit, Broad and Anderson put in their all in the spells they had. Broad, nursing a leg injury, was magnificent, bowling in with steam, harrying the batsman and keeping them in check. England also took their reviews properly, with both Murali Vijay and KL Rahul falling to decisions that were overturned. At the other end, James Anderson who has made a heroic return to Tests after an injury, cleaned up Cheteshwar Pujara for just 1.

Except, England still had Virat Kohli to contend with. And again, Kohli prospered, on a pitch that was deteriorating with every ball. The leggie Adil Rashid got some to scoot low but an un-affected Kohli was just in his zone, ticking away singles and getting the boundaries at will on his way to another half-century, to follow up his 167 from the first innings. Rahane, at the other end, found it much more difficult and had a few close ones, but held on to his wicket as India finished the day at a very strong position.

Brief scores:

India 455 (Virat Kohli 167, Cheteshwar Pujara 119; Moeen Ali 3/98, James Anderson 3/62) and 98/3 (Virat Kohli 56 not out, Rahane 21 not out; Stuart Broad 2/6, James Anderson 1/16) lead England 255 all out (Ben Stokes 70, Joe Root 53; Ravichandran Ashwin 5/67, Mohammed Shami 1/28) by 298 runs.