Rajkot: A five-wicket haul by spinner Ravindra Jadeja and top-notch knocks from skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, double centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal and debutant Sarfaraz Khan made England's 'Bazball' brand of cricket surrender to Team India in their home conditions, losing by 434 runs in the third Test at Rajkot on Sunday.
India is now 2-1 up in the five-match series.
England started the final session at 18/2, with Ollie Pope unbeaten on the crease. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett could not score much.
Pope was joined by Joe Root at the other end.
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However, spinner Ravindra Jadeja gave no chance to the fresh duo to breathe as he first got Ollie caught by skipper Rohit at slips for just three. Then he trapped Jonny Bairstow for just four runs, continuing his horrid run. England slipped to 28/4.
The 434-run win in Rajkot Test against England is India's biggest ever in terms of run-margin.#India #England #Cricket pic.twitter.com/OwJVFObgEQ
— Dynamite News (@DynamiteNews_) February 18, 2024
Root was joined by England's skipper and crisis man Ben Stokes. The duo took England to 50-run mark in 21 overs.
However, Jadeja gave yet another jolt to the visitors, removing Root for just seven with yet another leg-before-wicket. England had lost half their side for just 50 runs.
Kuldeep also joined the spin party, first trapping skipper Stokes leg-before-wicket for just 15 and later getting Rehan Ahmed caught at the boundary for zero. England slipped to an extremely worrisome 50/7.
Tom Hartley and Ben Foakes attempted yet another rebuild for a cause almost lost. Jadeja managed to take his fourth wicket, removing Foakes for 16. England was reduced to 82/8 thanks to a fine catch by wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel.
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Ravichandran Ashwin took the next wicket of Hartley for 16, castling his stumps to sink England to 91/9.
India ended England's inning at just 122 runs, with Jadeja getting the final and his fifth wicket and Jaiswal taking the catch to remove Mark Wood for 33. India won the match by 434 runs.
Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers with 5/41. Kuldeep took 2/19 while Ashwin and Bumrah got a wicket each.
Earlier, India secured a 556-run second innings lead, declaring their second innings at 430/4. Following skipper Rohit's early fall for just 19 runs, young batters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill steadied the ship for India with a 155-run partnership for the second wicket, which ended after Jaiswal retired hurt for 104. India ended the day three at 196/2, with Gill (65*) and Kuldeep Yadav (3*).
On day four, Gill and Kuldeep continued to stitch yet another partnership, which ended with Gill heartbreakingly missing his fourth Test ton due to a run-out, scoring 91 in 151 balls, with nine fours and two sixes. Kuldeep also made a solid 27 in 91 balls, leaving India at 258/4. From this point on, Jaiswal resumed his innings with the fellow Mumbai star Sarfaraz Khan. Both took the English spinners to cleaners.
Jaiswal scored his second double-century in Tests after scoring his first one in the last Test. A key highlight of his knock was smashing veteran pace legend James Anderson for a hat-trick of sixes.
Sarfaraz also scored his back-to-back half-century on Test debut. India ended the innings at 430/4, with Jaiswal (214* in 236 balls, 14 fours and 12 sixes) and Sarfaraz (68* in 72 balls, with six fours and three sixes) unbeaten to form a 172-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Joe Root, Tom Hartley and Rehan Ahmed took a wicket each for England.
Earlier, England in their first inning scored 319 runs in reply to India's 445 runs in their first inning. Though Ben Duckett (153 in 151 balls, with 23 fours and two sixes) scored the fastest century by an English player in India, no other batter could give him much support.
Skipper Stokes (41 in 89 balls, with six fours) and Pope (39 in 55 balls, with five fours and a six) played some decent knocks.
Siraj was the pick of the bowlers for India with 4/84, while Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja took two wickets each. Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin managed a scalp each, with the latter reaching his 500th Test wicket as well.
In the first innings, after opting to bat first, India put up 445 in the first innings. The hosts were rocked by England bowlers earlier and were struggling at 33/3. Then skipper Rohit stepped up, forming a 204-run stand with Jadeja. Rohit scored 131 runs in 196 balls, with 14 fours and three sixes.
Jadeja went on to score his third Test ton and crafted a 77-run stand with debutant Sarfaraz (62 in 66 balls, with nine fours and a six). Useful scores from debutant Dhruv Jurel (46 in 104 balls, with two fours and three sixes) and Ashwin (37 in 89 balls, with six fours) took India to a fine total.
Mark Wood justified his selection with figures of 4/114. Rehan got two wickets while Root, Hartley and Anderson got a wicket each.
Brief Scores: India: 445 and 430/4 (Yashasvi Jaiswal 214*, Shubman Gill 91, Tom Hartley 1/78) beat England: 319 and 122 (Mark Wood 33, Tom Hartley 16, Ravindra Jadeja 5/41). (ANI)
