Yashasvi Jaiswal’s sensational double hundred found harmonious co-existence with the stunning craftiness of five-wicket man Ravindra Jadeja as ruthless India demolished wasteful England by a record 434 runs on the fourth day of the third Test.
England resisted their desire to play ‘Bazball’ but the Indian bowlers led by Ravindra Jadeja (5/41) were an irresistible force, as they hustled out the tourists for 122 in their second innings while chasing an improbable 557-run target.
Ravindra Jadeja who was awarded the ‘Player of the Match’ award said,”I was just looking to build partnerships with Rohit, we were in a difficult situation, look to back my strengths, play my shots, not try and be more conscious. Watch the ball and play the ball. I know about this wicket, if we bat first, it is always good to bat on, in the second half it starts spinning, when Rohit won the toss, we were thinking: this is all what we wanted, bat first bowl second. On this wicket you won’t get easy wickets, you have to work hard for it. You need to throw balls in good areas, you have to earn your wickets.”
India’s plan of attacking the wickets took the wind away from the sails of England, whose top order crumbled without any significant contribution.
With Jadeja finding ample support from Kuldeep Yadav (2/19), Jasprit Bumrah (1/18) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1/19), who rejoined the match on this day after attending a medical emergency at home, England found no way out.
Ben Duckett (4) ran himself out, Zak Crawley (11) was trapped leg-before by Bumrah and Jadeja struck twice in quick succession to see the back of Ollie Pope (3) and extended Jonny Bairstow’s (4) misery on this tour.
Struggling desperately for runs on this tour, Bairstow was trapped leg-before while trying to sweep Jadeja.
England’s hero of the win in the first Test, Pope cut one straight to Rohit Sharma at first slip as Jadeja shook their top-order.
After a brief period of resistance, Joe Root (7) missed a sweep with the umpire declaring him out leg-before off Jadeja, and the replays confirmed that the ball would have flicked the top of off-stump.
Captain Ben Stokes (15) had a similar fate, missing a sweep off Kuldeep Yadav as England slumped to 50 for six.
Ashwin took the field in the post tea session and contributed his bit with the scalp of Tom Hartley.
For a while, it seemed England would fold for one of their lowest-ever totals against India, but a late burst from Mark Wood (33, 15 balls, 6x4s, 1x6s) took them to 122 from 82 for eight.
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Published: 18 Feb 2024, 06:23 PM IST