RANCHI, FEBRUARY 25
Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav shared seven wickets to cap a stunning turnaround for India on day three of the fourth test against England on Sunday.
Ashwin took 5-51 in 15.5 overs, while Yadav returned 4-22 in 15 overs, as England was bowled out for 145 runs (53.5 overs) in its second innings.
The paltry total left India a 192-run target to win the fourth test and take a 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
The hosts reached 40-0 in eight overs at stumps on day three, with Rohit Sharma (24 not out) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (16 not out) unbeaten at the close of play.
India needs another 152 runs to win the test and take an unassailable lead in the series.
England's second innings lasted less than two sessions as Ashwin picked up his 35th five-wicket haul in tests.
The off-spinner started off the proceedings with the new ball after lunch. His first victim was Ben Duckett, out caught at short leg for 15.
Ashwin was soon on a hat trick after he trapped Ollie Pope lbw for a first ball duck. Joe Root denied him the feat, but was out lbw to Ashwin in the 17th over for 11.
Root, who had scored 122 not out in the first innings, helped put on 46 runs for the third wicket with Zack Crawley. His dismissal was the turning point for England in its pursuit of a 200-plus run target.
Crawley scored 60 off 91 balls, with seven fours, and pushed England past the 100-run mark. Yadav bowled him in the 29th over, and followed it up with Ben Stokes' wicket as well.
Stokes was out for four runs, as the ball kept low and turned into his stumps off the pads. England was showing signs of strain and went to tea at 120-5.
It was 120-6 off the first ball after the break, as Jonny Bairstow chipped Ravindra Jadeja (1-56) straight to cover. Bairstow was out for 30 off 42 balls, and the slide continued for England.
Ashwin and Yadav then made quick work of the lower order, even though Ben Foakes (17) tried to resist.
Tom Hartley was out caught for seven off Yadav, who also trapped Ollie Robinson lbw for a three-ball duck.
Ashwin accounted for both Foakes and James Anderson to script a stunning turnaround for India, following Dhruv Jurel's 90-run knock in the morning session.
Starting from an overnight 219-7, Jurel scored his maiden half-century as India finished within 46 runs of England's first-innings total.
Jurel superbly marshalled the lower order as India was bowled out for 307 runs on Sunday in reply to England's 353.
Offspinner Shoaib Bashir took 5-119 in 44 overs, his maiden five-wicket haul, while Tom Hartley finished with 3-68 as the English spinners gave the tourists a slender lead on a progressively worsening pitch with variable low bounce.
Jurel, resuming on 30 not out, came out attacking from one end and unsettled the English bowlers. He reached 50 off 96 balls, hitting three fours and a six, as part of the 76-run stand with Yadav.
James Anderson (2-48) bowled Yadav for 28 to finally provide the breakthrough, and moved within two scalps of 700 test wickets.
Meanwhile, Jurel moved up the gears and put on 40 runs off 75 balls with Akash Deep (nine).
Bashir trapped Deep lbw in the 101st over for his maiden five-wicket haul in only his second test at age 20. Jurel scored another 14 runs with Mohammed Siraj for company as India crossed the 300-run mark, which had seemed unlikely on day two.
He was 10 short of a maiden test hundred, when Hartley's delivery spun sharply and crashed into his stumps.
India has a 2-1 lead in the five-test series, after winning back-to-back tests in Visakhapatnam and Rajkot by 106 and 434 runs, respectively. England won the first test in Hyderabad by 28 runs.
