The story of the only Test match played at Visakhapatnam so far

India and South Africa will kick off their three-match Test series with the first match starting at Visakhapatnam on 2 October. While the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium has already played host to eight ODIs (excluding one cancelled match) and two T20s (excluding one abandoned game), this will be only the second time that Visakhapatnam will be hosting a Test match.

India took on England in the second Test of the five-match series from November 17-21 2016, after the opening Test of the series at Rajkot ended in a draw. India were led by Virat Kohli and England by Alastair Cook.

Hosts India won the toss and elected to bat first. The Test marked the debut of all-rounder Jayant Yadav.

Here’s a recap of what transpired in the first and only Test match played at Visakhapatnam so far.

The Kohli-Pujara show

India got off to a horror start as Stuart Broad sent back Lokesh Rahul for a duck, after which James Anderson ended Murali Vijay’s promising innings of 20 from 21 balls. There was little to cheer for the England bowlers thereafter though.

Cheteshwar Pujara and skipper Virat Kohli featured in a third-wicket stand of 226. Pujara made 119 from 204 balls with 12 fours and two sixes, while Kohli went on to register 167 runs from 267 balls with 18 fours.

By the time the pair was separated, India had reached a comfortable 248 for 3.

Thanks to crucial contributions lower down the order - 58 from Ravichandran Ashwin and 35 from debutant Jayant Yadav - India managed to lift themselves to 455. James Anderson and Moeen Ali were the most successful bowlers for England with 3 for 62 and 3 for 98 respectively. Adil Rashid also claimed two wickets but went for 110 runs.

Ashwin runs through England

Replying to India’s impressive total, England got off to a poor start as Mohammed Shami cleaned up Alastair Cook for 2. Haseeb Hameed and Joe Root took England past 50, but the Hameed's run out for 13 brought India back into the game.

Ashwin joined the action by bowling Ben Duckett for 5 and then ending Root’s promising innings at 53. Yadav got his maiden wicket by trapping Ali lbw for 1 from 21 balls as England slipped to 80 for 5.

Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow then led the fightback for England with a 110-run sixth wicket stand, which ended when Umesh Yadav bowled Bairstow for 53. Ashwin then finished Stokes' vigil for 70. The all-rounder hit 11 fours in his 157-ball knock.

Ashwin quickly ran through the tail to finish with figures of 5 for 67 as England ended their innings on 255.

Kohli shines again, then England crumble

With a massive first-innings lead, India lost wickets in the pursuit of quick runs. They were soon 40 for 3, but Kohli came up with yet another impressive knock. He made a swift 81 from 109 balls, with eight hits to the fence.

Yadav too chipped in again with an unbeaten 27. India finished on 204 all out as Stuart Broad and Adil Rashid helped themselves to four wickets each.

Set to chase a massive 405, England began on a confident note with Hameed and Cook adding 75 for the opening stand. However, once Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin sent back Cook and Hameed respectively, both trapped lbw, England’s middle and lower order crumbled.

From 87 for 1 they slumped to 158 all out as Ashwin and Yadav claimed three wickets each while Jadeja and Shami shared the remaining four wickets between them. Cook top scored with 54 and Bairstow was unbeaten on 34, but there was little else from the rest as India won by 246 runs.