Axar Patel takes Test-best figures of 6-38 as England crumble to 112 all out after winning the toss; Rohit Sharma unbeaten on 57, but Jack Leach bowls Virat Kohli (27) in final five minutes as India closed the day on 99-3
Wednesday 24 February 2021 20:19, UK
England were bowled out for just 112 on day one of the day-night third Test against India in Ahmedabad, with nine wickets lost to spin in another dismal batting collapse.
England took three wickets with the pink ball under lights, but Rohit Sharma (57no) - centurion from the second Test - serenely made his way past fifty as India crept up towards the tourists' first-innings total by stumps.
Shubman Gill (11) and Cheteshwar Pujara (0) fell within five balls of each other, but captain Virat Kohli (27) appeared to correct things with a 64-run partnership with Rohit before he was bowled by Jack Leach (2-27) in the final five minutes of the day - the hosts closing on 99-3, trailing by just 13.
Joe Root earlier won the toss, electing to make first use of the pitch, but any boost that might have given the visiting dressing room was soon extinguished when Dom Sibley and the returning Jonny Bairstow both departed for ducks.
Zak Crawley (53) - another one of four changes to the England side from their chastening 317-run defeat in Chennai last week - played beautifully for a fourth Test fifty, brought up off 68 balls and containing 10 crisply-timed boundaries.
Crawley's 47-run stand for the third wicket with Root (17) promised much more, but the former followed the England skipper back to the hutch in the final 20 minutes of the morning session and the rest of the England batting order was then swept aside after the lunch interval.
England lost their final eight wickets for 38 runs, with Axar Patel claiming Test-best figures of 6-38 in 21.4 overs. Ravichandran Ashwin pitched in with 3-26 from his 16.
Any faint hope of a fightback from the visitors rested on their four-pronged seam attack - James Anderson and Jofra Archer picked ahead of a second-spinner option in Dom Bess - performing under lights with the pink ball.
In the second over of the Indian innings, Ben Stokes thought he'd snaffled up Gill for a duck off Stuart Broad, but the third umpire ruled that he had grounded the low catch at second slip.
A breakthrough finally arrived in the 15th, as Gill top-edged Archer (1-24) to square-leg, and a second followed five balls later with Leach trapping Pujara lbw for a duck.
Rohit and Kohli seemed to have quashed any potential for late drama with their defiant stand, though the India captain was dropped in the gully by Ollie Pope on 24 and was ultimately dismissed soon after by Leach.
Despite winning the toss, England were under no illusion as to the challenge that faced them in the first innings, particularly against a pink ball which was said to offer encouragement to the quicks in the build-up to the Test.
As early as the third over, Ishant Sharma (1-26) - appearing in his 100th Test match - found a bit of nip with the new ball, tempting Sibley into a routine edge to Rohit at second slip. But spin would then dominate thereafter.
From the 15th over through to the 47th, Axar and Ashwin worked in tandem, exclusively, with England's batsmen all at sea against the wily operators. There wasn't prodigious turn on offer, but that is what at times saw them unstuck.
Bairstow played for turn that wasn't there as he became Axar's first victim when pinned in front, Crawley too when his fine knock was finally ended. In between, Root also succumbed lbw, but to one that turned past the inside edge of his defensive prod to Ashwin.
Pope (1) fell four balls after lunch - bowled by Ashwin when again looking for turn - and Stokes (6) was gone an over later, missing a straight, back-of-a-length ball by Axar.
It left England reeling at 81-6, and though Archer (11) struck a couple of boundaries and Ben Foakes (12) doggedly hung around for 58 deliveries, the precession of wickets continued and it left India's openers facing a tricky five-over spell under lights prior to the 'dinner' interval.
Anderson and Broad were at their probing best before the break, but couldn't quite open up an end, despite Stokes' protestations that he clung on to his catch off Gill in the second over.
Archer was ultimately the one to claim the Indian opener to end the 15th, seeing the back of Gill as he attempted to fetch a short ball from outside off.
Leach pinned Pujara in front shortly after to give England hope, but though the left-arm spinner also claimed the prized scalp of Kohli, chopping on to his stumps late on, there is no doubt that India are in the driving seat by stumps on the opening day.
Follow text commentary from day two of the day-night third Test between India and England in Ahmedabad on skysports.com and the Sky Sports app from 8.30am on Thursday.
