Ahmedabad: India were 24 for the loss of Shubman Gill’s (0) wicket at stumps on the first day of the fourth and final Test against England here Thursday at the Narendra Modi stadium here. Cheteshwar Pujara (15 batting) and Rohit Sharma (eight batting) were at the crease when stumps were called. Gill was dismissed by James Anderson who had the batsman leg before with the third delivery of the Indian innings.
Earlier England were bowled out for 205 in the first innings. The visitors, opting to bat never were in command against some tight and steady Indian bowling. Except for Ben Stokes (55, 121b, 6×4, 2×6), none of the other batters got going. For India, it was the spinners who broke the back of England batting. Axar Patel (4/68) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3/47) did the maximum damage for India. They were well-supported by paceman Mohammed Siraj (2/45) and spinner Washington Sundar (1/14). It was Sundar who dismissed Stokes when the England all-rounder threatened to take the game away from the Indians.
Yes, there were a couple of deliveries that turned, but then the pitch is not unplayable as Stokes showed. A number of England batsmen got starts but failed to convert those into substantial scores. Among them were skipper Jonny Bairstow (28), Ollie Pope (29) and Dan Lawrence (46).
Details to follow