Ahmedabad: England’s batsmen lost the battle of both the mind and skills in yet another shoddy performance to surrender the momentum to India with Axar Patel (4/68) and Ravichandran Ashwin (3/47) calling the shots on the opening day of the fourth and final Test here on Thursday. The visitors were bowled out for 205 and in reply India were 24 for the loss of Shubman Gill’s (0) wicket at stumps. Cheteshwar Pujara (15 batting) and Rohit Sharma (eight batting) were at the crease when stumps were called.
It was certainly not what England skipper Joe Root had hoped for after winning the toss and opting to bat. England batted on the first day pitch and the conditions will certainly deteriorate as the game progresses.
There was turn and bounce but the pitch was far from being a minefield that some of the England batsmen save Ben Stokes (55, 121, 121b, 6×4, 2×6) made it out to be.
Axar and Ashwin weaved a magic web around the already clueless England batsmen. They were well-supported by Washington Sundar (1/14) and pacer Mohammed Siraj (2/45). Sundar dismissed Stokes while Siraj got the wicket of Root (5).
A cursory look at the England line-up, loaded with an extra batsman, will reveal that four players got starts but failed to convert. They were Stokes, Bairstow (28), Dan Lawrence (46) and Ollie Pope (29). The others came in and went without breaking a bead of sweat. It was as if already in their minds, they were playing on a track they thought would turn square.
Stokes was a cut above the rest both in defence and offence before a moment’s indecision cost him his wicket. Sundar angled one in and Stokes was on the back-foot after initially trying to come forward preempting an off-break. The ball didn’t turn and hit the back leg with clear indication of crashing into the leg stump.
Stokes’ dismissal, after a good show, upset the team’s rhythm just when England were looking to redeem itself after a poor first session.
It was the post tea session where the lower order caved in with Ashwin in his elements. England lost their last five wickets for 39 runs in 14.2 overs.
Scoreboard
England (1st innings): Zak Crawley c Siraj b Patel 9, Dom Sibley b Patel 2, Jonny Bairstow lbw b Siraj 28, Joe Root lbw b Siraj 5, Ben Stokes lbw b Sundar 55, Ollie Pope c Gill b Ashwin 29, Dan Lawrence st Pant b Patel 46, Ben Foakes c Rahane b Ashwin 1, Dom Bess lbw b Patel 3, Jack Leach lbw b Ashwin 7, James Anderson n o 10, Extras: (B-3, LB-5, NB-1, WD-1) 10, Total: (all out in 75.5 overs) 205.
Fall: 1-10, 2-15, 3-30, 4-78, 5-121, 6-166, 7-170, 8-188, 9-189.
Bowling: Ishant Sharma 9-2-23-0, Mohammed Siraj 14-2-45-2, Axar Patel 26-7-68-4, Ravichandran Ashwin 19.5-4-47-3, Washington Sundar 7-1-14-1.
India (1st innings): Shubhman Gill b J Anderson 0, Rohit Sharma batting 8, Cheteshwar Pujara batting 15, Extras (NB-1) 1, Total (for 1 wicket) 24.
Fall: 1-0.
Bowling: James Anderson 5-5-0-1, Ben Stokes 2-1-4-0, Jack Leach 4-0-16-0, Dom Bess 1-0-4-0.