Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], February 25 (ANI): Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav spun a web as England lost five wickets early in the second session of the ongoing fourth Test to put India in control of proceedings at the JSCA International Stadium Complex on Sunday.
At the time of Tea, England’s score read 120/5 – lead by 166 runs- with Jonny Bairstow (30) and Ben Foakes (0) standing unbeaten at the crease. India ended the second session on a great note as the hosts pulled their way right back into this match after a flurry of wickets.
Early in the second session, star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin provided India with two back-to-back breakthroughs as he dismissed Ben Duckett and Ollie Pope on consecutive deliveries.
Despite losing two wickets in quick succession, England gained momentum as Zak Crawley started dealing in boundaries.
India turned to Mohammed Siraj after starting with 15 overs of spin from both ends, however, England kept the momentum in their favour.
In the 17th over of the game, Ashwin sent dangerous batter Joe Root packing with a full and straight delivery off the final ball.
Crawley continued his blistering form and slammed his third half-century of the series. The English batters rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the Indian bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer.
A cracker from Kuldeep Yadav helped India spring in their step again as he removed well-set batter Crawley for 60. Crawley stepped back at a beauty that skidded through, beat the bat and smashed into the middle stump.
Kuldeep got the main man as he removed captain Ben Stokes for 4. The ball stayed low and Stokes had no answer for it, seeing it hit his shin and then spin back through his legs to hit the stumps, leaving England tottering at 120/5 at Tea.
Earlier, at lunch, India ended their first inning at 307 and trailed by 46 runs after Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav played a 76-run partnership.
Day three started with Kuldeep and Dhruv Jurel on the crease. Both the Indians were playing calmly and slowly putting runs on the scoreboard at a time when the hosts were under pressure.
Jurel and Kuldeep helped India to cross the 250-run mark in the 86th over. However, James Anderson made the first breakthrough of the day after he dimissed Kuldeep for 28 runs for 131 balls in the 89th. The off-spinner smashed 2 fours as well.
India moved past the 300 runs mark in the 101.6 overs after playing 618 balls. After the dismissal, India failed to build another partnership in their first inning. Later in the 101st over, Shoaib Bashir removed Akash Deep for 9 runs from 29 balls. With Deep’s wicket, Bashir bagged his first five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.
Bashir was the main man to keep a check on India’s run rate and put England in the driver’s seat.
Jurel claimed his first fifty in the first ball of the 90th over. However, the youngster was unlucky to hit a century as he was dismissed by Tom Hartley for 90 runs from 149 balls and ended India’s first inning. Jurel smashed 6 fours and 4 sixes with a strike rate of 60.40.
On the other hand, Bashir led the English bowling attack with his fifer. While Hartley bagged three wickets as he gave away 68 runs.
Brief Score: India 307 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 73, Shubman Gill 38, Dhruv Jurel 90; Shoaib Bashir 5-119) vs England 353 & 120/5 (Zak Crawley 60, Jonny Bairstow 30*; Ravichandran Ashwin 3-48). (ANI)
