NE SPORTS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, FEB 24
Indian spinners shot England out for just 112 inside two sessions with Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel sharing the spoils after pacer Ishant Sharma opened the floodgates in his milestone 100th match on the opening day of the day-night third Test here on Wednesday.
.@akshar2026 is the 🌟 with the ball 👏🏻👏🏻
6️⃣ wickets in front of his home crowd 🏟️@Paytm #INDvENG #TeamIndia #PinkBallTest
Follow the match 👉 https://t.co/9HjQB6TZyX pic.twitter.com/PzJ2eY8jSV
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 24, 2021
England were all out for 112 in 48.4 overs in the second session on a spin-friendly Motera pitch with Patel (21.4-6-38-6) grabbing his second five-for in his second Test while Ashwin (16-6-26-3) took three.
Openers Rohit Sharma (5 batting) and Shubman Gill (0 batting) negotiated five overs to take India to five for no loss at the dinner break.
The lights are ON & what a spectacle the Narendra Modi Stadium is 👌🏻😍.@GCAMotera @Paytm #INDvENG #TeamIndia #PinkBallTest pic.twitter.com/4rYT7ujOIh
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 24, 2021
Gill, however, survived after TV umpire ruled him not out in the third over after England claimed for a catch.
Ishant, only the second Indian fast bowler after Kapil Dev to play in 100 Tests, fittingly took India’s first wicket in the third over as he dismissed opener Dominic Sibley for nought.
Thereafter, it was all Ashwin and Patel show as the duo bamboozled the England batsmen to complete the submission, except for the other opener Zak Crawley, who hit an eminently delectable half-century. Six English wickets fell in the second session.
England did not have any substantial partnership with the 47-run stand for the third wicket being the highest. They lost their last seven wickets for just 38 runs.
Crawley’s brilliance was, however, neutralised by the Indian spinners as England were left reeling at 81 for 4 going into tea after an exciting opening session in the pink ball Test.
Two wickets fell in as many overs after the resumption of the second session, with Ashwin and Patel taking one each, to reduce England to 81 for 6.
Ashwin sent Ollie Pope’s (1) off-stump cart-wheeling with a beauty of a delivery, bowling round the wicket, before Patel trapped Ben Stokes (6) LBW in the next over with a ball that spun in.
Jofra Archer (11) did a tad better as he hit a four in the second ball he faced and another boundary off Ashwin. But, Patel had him soon, cleaning up his off-stump to send England innings into a mess.
England’s rapid slide continued with Jack Leach edging one to the gully where Cheteshwar Pujara took a low catch off Ashwin, though the TV umpire took time to confirm the decision.
Crawley’s effort was the only silver lining for England. Having missed the first two Tests due to a freak wrist injury, the stylish right-hander’s driving was elegance personified as he hit 10 boundaries during his 84-ball 53.
Earlier, playing his landmark 100th Test, Ishant couldn’t have hoped for a better start when he got a delivery to hold its line and bounce a shade extra, which Sibley edged to Rohit Sharma at second slip.
Axar, brought in as early as in the seventh over, struck with a delivery that came in with the arm and Jonny Bairstow (0) was adjudged leg before, leaving England at 27 for 2.
However, Crawley was in no mood to play the defensive game and made most of what always is the best time for batting in a pink ball Test. His half-century had 10 boundaries and came off 68 balls.
Captain Joe Root was the second highest scorer with a 58-ball 17 before Ashwin got his crucial wicket with a delivery that turned a shade.
Crawley, who had tried the reverse sweep without much success, was accounted for by Axar when he played for the away turn.
Ishant Sharma felicitated by President, Home Minister and teammates guard of honour
India’s veteran fast bowler Ishant Sharma was on Wednesday accorded a guard of honour by his teammates after being felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind and Home Minister Amit Shah ahead of his landmark 100th Test match here.
The 32-year-old Ishant is only the second Indian fast bowler after former captain Kapil Dev to play 100 Test matches.
Before the start of the day-night third Test against England, the pacer received a memento from President Kovind while Shah handed him a commemorative 100th Test cap at the Narendra Modi Stadium here.
As he made his way into the ground after England opted to bat, captain Virat Kohli’s men lined up to honour his longevity and service to Indian cricket.
“@ImIshant was felicitated by the Honourable President of India Shri Ram Nath Kovind & Honourable Home Minister of India Shri Amit Shah before the start of play here in Ahmedabad,” the BCCI tweeted.
Besides the President and home minister, also present during the inauguration of the world’s largest cricket stadium were sports minister Kiren Rijiju and BCCI secretary Jay Shah.
In his landmark game, Ishant provided the home team a perfect start as he removed Dominic Sibley in the third over.
Though he has had many memorable moments in his career so far that has nearly spanned a decade and a half, Ishant struggled to name one while speaking to reporters ahead of the game.
“If your career is 14 years long and you are still playing, you cannot name just one highlight. It is difficult to pinpoint just one highlight, every sportsperson has the graph going up and down,” Ishant said.
During the first Test against England earlier this month in Chennai, Ishant became the sixth Indian and third pacer from the country to take 300 wickets in Test cricket, joining legendary former captains Kapil and Anil Kumble.
Ishant, who has 11 five-wicket hauls and picked up 10 wickets in a match once, made his Test debut back in 2007 against Bangladesh.
Prior to the start of the match, Ishant was hailed by the likes of Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Ashish Nehra.
