Manchester, Aug 8 (IANS) Pacers Varun Aaron and Bhuvneshwar Kumar led India's fightback as England were reduced to 201 for six, a lead by 49 runs, at lunch on day two of the fourth cricket Test at Old Trafford here Friday.

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England, who had skittled out India for 152 on the first day, lost three of their top order batsmen in the morning session with Bhuvneshwar accounting for two of them.

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Starting the day at 113 for three, Ian (58) and Chris Jordan (13) set-about consolidating England's strong position in the match.

Indian bowlers left a lot to be desired in the first half-hour of play.

But just as the hosts were beginning to look comfortable, Bhuvneshwar struck to remove Jordan.

An excellent catch by Aaron at mid-wicket as Bhuneshwar's bouncer took Jordan by surprise.

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Just an over later, Bhuvneshwar was at it again, sending the dangerous Bell back to the pavillion. 

The Indian pacer's wonderful outswinger grazed the bat's outside edge and staright into the waiting gloves of captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The two wickets juxtaposed with Aaron's introduction into the attack saw India claw their way back into the match.

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Aaron managed to exploit the favourable overcast conditions to his advantage and troubled the English batsmen with his pace, bounce and movement.

Some of his short-pitched deliveries had the opposition scurrying for cover.

Aaron finally got his due with an unplayable inswinger from around the wicket that saw the ball smash into Moeen Ali's stumps.

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The left-hander was hurried into his shot, and was trying to play that with the swing towards midwicket with a closed bat-face but the ball split the gap between bat and pad to crash into the stumps.

Ravichandran Ashwin, back into the Indian side, bowled well but failed to get another breakthrough as the visitors went into lunch with Jos Buttler (13 batting) and Joe Root (22 batting) still at the crease.

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Saurabh Sharma
Saurabh Sharma is the Editorial Head of Cricketnmore Hindi and a passionate cricket journalist with over 14 years of experience in sports media. He began his journalism career with Navbharat Times, part of the Times of India Group, before moving to television media with Sadhna News. In 2014, he joined Cricketnmore and currently serves as the editor of the platform.
Known for his deep understanding of cricket statistics and unique storytelling approach, Saurabh specializes in cricket news, match analysis, records, and feature stories. Along with editorial responsibilities, he also works as a show producer for popular cricket video series such as Cricket Tales, Cricket Flashback, and Cricket Trivia. Read More
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