India vs England 2021: Twitter Reacts As India Dominate England On The 1st Day Of The 4th Test

By Yash Mittal

Updated - 04 Mar 2021, 06:00 PM

Image Credit: Twitter

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India have taken a pole position at the close of the first day’s play in the fourth Test after having dismissed England for 205 on a relatively flat surface despite losing yet another toss at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Having won the toss and decided to bat first, England’s hopes of getting off to a good start were ripped to tatters by that man again- Axar Patel

After the English opening duo of Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley had safely negotiated the first five overs bowled by the pacers, Virat Kohli introduced Axar Patel in the attack.

And, just like the last Test, where a majority of batsmen fell to a ball that did not turn, the same thing happened on the second delivery of Axar Patel’s second delivery as the ghosts of pink ball returned in crimson disguise, drenched in clotted blood.

India, England, Dom Sibley
Axar Patel knocks over Dom Sibley. (Photo: BCCI/Screengrab)

The victim was Dom Sibley, who took his stride out and played for the non-existing turn. The ball moved past his inside edge before the death rattle signaled the end of his innings.

Patel struck again in his very next over as Zak Crawley fell to the left-arm orthodox for the third time in as many innings after the Kent batsman mistimed the attempted lofted drive in the worst possible manner, giving a catch to Mohammed Siraj to mid-off.

Joe Root, Mohammed Siraj
Mohammed Siraj Traps Joe Root LBW [Image-BCCI]
The morning kept getting worse for England as they had lost their skipper Joe Root, who missed a nip-backer after having faced a series of outswingers from Mohammed Siraj and was trapped plumb in front of the wicket.

Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes played their shots in the second half of the session and ensured that England went into the Lunch break at 3/74.

The partnership between Bairstow and Stokes was eventually broken by Mohammed Siraj post the Lunch interval when the seamer got one to nip back into the Yorkshireman.

Ben Stokes, meanwhile, continued to play in his merry way, playing some delightful strokes against both pace and spin. The Durham all-rounder completed his second half-century of the series.

But, just as it looked like Stokes was warming up for a well-deserved ton, he made the cardinal sin of playing for the turn after Washington Sundar had got a few balls to rip past his outside edge, and was trapped plumb in front of wicket via another straighter delivery.

Ollie Pope, Ravichandran Ashwin
Ollie Pope fell to Ravichandran Ashwin again [Image-BCCI]
Ollie Pope had looked all at sea against Indian spinners-especially against Ravichandran Ashwin- on raging turners in the last two Test matches but on a track that did not offer the same assistance like the past two games, the young English batsman looked impressive during his 87-ball 22.

One of the striking features of Pope’s batting during knock on the first day of the fourth Test was his footwork. In the past two Tests, Pope had looked indecisive in his footwork, but today he looked quite assured before a freak dismissal brought an end to his knock.

It all happened during the 62nd over of England’s innings when Ravichandran Ashwin sowed seeds of doubt in Ollie Pope’s mind by troubling him with a sharp turn on the first delivery followed by a straighter one.

Not really sure whether it would turn or not, Pope decided to step out of the crease and flick the ball. However, he got an inside-edge that hit his back leg before popping up straight in the air to short-leg fielder Shubman Gill, who took a sharp catch.

India, England
Axar Patel claimed 4 wickets [Image-BCCI]
The dismissal not only brought an end to an excellent 45-run-stand between Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence but it also opened the floodgates for Team India as Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel weaved their magic to polish off England’s lower-order.

Ashwin soon dismissed Ben Foakes, who edged one straight to Ajinkya Rahane at first slip while Axar Patel knocked over a dangerous-looking Dan Lawrence, who in an attempt to smash the off-spinner over his head missed the ball altogether and got stumped.

Dom Bess was trapped plumb in front of wicket as was Jack Leach by Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin as England’s innings eventually ended at 205 in 75.5 overs.

India were jolted in the first over of their innings as Shubman Gill’s torrid time in the series continued with James Anderson pinning him leg-before wicket for a duck. James  Anderson bowled five maiden overs on the trot but Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara ensured that the home side did not lose any more wickets as India finished at 1/24 in 12 overs.

 

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

https://twitter.com/im_yash2307/status/1367420025653530625?s=19

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