Ravichandran Ashwin achieves yet another historic feat, levels Anil Kumble's record

India wrapped up England for 145 runs in their second innings after displaying a lethal bowling display on Day 3. Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin grabbed a fifer and ended the innings with figures of 5/51 in 15.5 overs. On the other hand, Kuldeep Yadav picked up a four-wicket haul and ripped off the English middle and lower order with his lethal spin bowling.

Ravichandran Ashwin also became the Indian bowler to pick the joint-most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket. Ashwin leveled Anil Kumble’s record of 35 5-fers and reached the mark in 99 matches. Kumble had reached the milestone in 132 Tests. Harbhajan Singh is on the 3rd spot and has 25 five-wicket hauls in 103 games. Kapil Dev has 23 5-fers from 131 games, whereas Bhagwath Chandrasekhar has picked 16 five-wicket hauls from 58 Tests.

Ravichandran Ashwin achieves yet another historic feat

Most 5-fers for India in Tests:

1. Ravichandran Ashwin: 35 5-fers from 99 Tests
2. Anil Kumble: 35 5-fers from 132 Tests
3. Harbhajan Singh: 25 5-fers from 103 Tests
4. Kapil Dev: 23 5-fers from 131 Tests
5. BS Chandrasekhar: 16 5-fers from 58 Tests

Most 5-fers in Test history:

67 – Muralitharan
37 – Shane Warne
36 – Sir Richard Hadlee
35 – Anil Kumble
35 – Ravichandran Ashwin*
34 – Rangana Herath

Ravichandran Ashwin did the early damage for England and removed danger man Ben Duckett for 15 runs from 15 balls. Sarfaraz Khan caught Duckett at the forward short leg. Ollie Pope was caught in front of the very next ball and got dismissed for a golden duck by Ravichandran Ashwin. Joe Root, who scored a ton in the first innings, couldn’t repeat his performance and got out for 11 runs from 36 balls against Ashwin.

Kuldeep Yadav began his chase for wickets by dismissing English opener Zak Crawley for 60 off 91 balls. The ball was pitched outside the line of the off stump and struck the middle stump. Crawley was beaten by both turn and bounce and had to return to the dressing room. Ben Stokes became Yadav’s second victim when he became overconfident while guarding the ball, scoring four runs off thirteen balls. Ravindra Jadeja for rid of Jonny Bairstow on the very first ball after Tea.

Tom Hartley became the third English batsman to fall to Kuldeep Yadav. Hartley attempted to attack the left-arm wrist spinner but instead handed a catch to Sarfaraz Khan at long-on. Hartley nabbed Ollie Robinson in front of a duck to complete his four-wicket haul.

Ravichandran Ashwin wrapped up the English innings by picking up the last two English wickets as he removed Ben Foakes and James Anderson for 7 and 0 runs respectively. At last, England were only able to score 145 runs and set India a target of 192 runs to chase down in their second innings.

Chasing down the target India ended Day 3 at 40/0 from 8 overs and need 152 more runs on Day 4. The Indian team will want to chase down the target and also win the five-match series 3-1. However, there is still a lot to play in the fourth Test match as chasing down the target on Day 4 would not be easy for India against the English spinners.