Moeen, Stokes strike centuries as England pile up 537 in Rajkot

Rajkot [India], Nov.10 (ANI): Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes struck scorching centuries as England racked up 537 all out against India on the second day of the opening Test at Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Thursday. Resuming at an overnight score of 311-4, Moeen struck his maiden century against India to take the visitors 450 for six at lunch. The left-hander, who was on 99 overnight, smashed 13 boundaries before being dismissed off Mohammad Shami's delivery. Ben Stokes then joined forces with Jonny Bairstow (46), the highest Test run-scorer this year, to share a crucial 99-run partnership for the sixth wicket and punish India's much-vaunted bowling attack. What piled further misery on the hosts is their failure to put the brakes on the free-scoring England batsmen with dropped chances. Stokes was dropped twice by wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha, with Umesh Yadav being the unlucky bowler on both occasions. Zafar Ansari also contributed significant 32 in his side's first innings. For India, Ravindra Jadeja bagged three wickets while Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin and Umesh Yadav finished with two wickets each. Amit Mishra also chipped in with a wicket. Earlier, Joe Root (124) shared a solid 179-run partnership for fourth wicket with Moeen to guide England past 300 on Day One after losing openers Martin Guptill and Haseeb Hameed for 21 and 31 respectively. (ANI)