IND vs ENG scorecard, 5th Test highlights: All-round India inflict innings defeat on beleaguered England in Dharamsala

England were bowled out inside a day for the second time in the ongoing fifth IND vs ENG Test as India thrashed them by an innings and 64 runs to clinch the five-match series 4-1. Joe Root (84) scored a fighting fifty but it was not enough to save his team from an embarrassing defeat at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala.

After conceding a huge first-innings lead of 259 runs, England were off to a disastrous start with the bat as Ravichandran Ashwin ripped through their batting order. Opening the bowling with Jasprit Bumrah, Ashwin struck in his very first over to send back Ben Duckett for 2.

In his third over, he sent back England’s highest run-scorer in the series Zak Crawley for a 16-ball duck to leave the tourists reeling at 21 for 2. Ollie Pope tried to sweep his way out against the India spin spearhead but could only top-edged the ball to Yashasvi Jaiswal at square leg.

Pope’s departure saw England getting reduced to 36 for 3 in the 10th over. With India well on top, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow provided some much-needed resistance with the former being his usual self and the latter taking the aggressive approach. Their partnership, however, did not last long.

Bairstow raced away to 39 off 30 balls with the help of three fours and as many sixes before being undone by a sharp leg break in Kuldeep Yadav’s first over of the innings. Ashwin was reintroduced into the attack when Ben Stokes arrived at the crease and the veteran spinner did not take long to extend his domination over the England captain.

He castled Stokes for just 2 runs at the stroke of lunch to leave England reeling at 103 for 5. With the likes of Ben Foakes (8), Tom Hartley (20), and Mark Wood (0) not lasting long on the crease either, England were reduced to 141 for 8 soon after lunch.

Root did try to delay the inevitable but could not do it for long as England were eventually bowled out for 195. For India, Ashwin picked up five wickets while Kuldeep and Bumrah picked up two wickets apiece.

Earlier in the day, India could add only four runs to their overnight score of 473 for 8. James Anderson dismissed Kuldeep to become the first-ever fast-bowler to reach 700 Test wickets before Shoaib Bashir sent back Jasprit Bumrah to complete a five-wicket haul.

IND vs ENG, 5th Test: India’s first innings

India scored 477 runs in their first innings with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring centuries. Rohit and Jaiswal added 104 runs for the first wicket before Bashir dismissed the latter for 57. It was followed by a 171-run stand between Rohit and Gill.

Stokes broke the stand by dismissing Rohit for 103 before Anderson dismissed Gill for 110. Debutant Devdutt Padikkal and Sarfaraz Khan then scored half-centuries to steady the ship and put India in a strong position. Kuldeep (30) and Bumrah (20) also came up with crucial cameos with the bat.

IND vs ENG, 5th Test: England’s first innings

Earlier on day one of the game, England opted to bat first and started well. They were comfortably placed at 175 for 3 before suffering a horror collapse and lost five wickets for just eight runs to find themselves reeling at 183 for 8. They were eventually bowled out for 218 runs. Kuldeep starred with the ball for India, taking 5 wickets while Ashwin grabbed four.