India, England, Zak Crawley, Axar Patel
Axar Patel gets the danger man Zak Crawley [Image Credit: BCCI]

Team India lost a crucial wicket of skipper Virat Kohli at the stroke of stumps but despite that, they have taken complete control of the pink-ball  Test against England as they finished the day at 3-99 after having bowled England out for 112.

After having been forced to bowl first, India got off to a brilliant start in the pink-ball Test as they claimed two quick wickets within the first 10 overs.

Playing in his 100th Test match, Ishant Sharma got into his act in just his 2nd over as he induced opener, Dom Sibley, to dangle his bat on a perfectly pitched delivery outside the off-stump to give a regulation catch to Rohit Sharma at 2nd slip.

Zak Crawley might have missed the first two Tests due to injury but the Kent batsman did not show any signs of rustiness whatsoever as he launched a counterattack against the Indian seamers, especially Ishant Sharma.

India, England, Zak Crawley, Axar Patel
Zak Crawley [Image Credit: BCCI]
Whether it was on the off-side or at his legs, Crawley was imperious in his strokeplay as he smashed as many as eight boundaries in his first 54 deliveries to race to 40.

Jonny Bairstow, however, did not enjoy the same return to Test cricket, as he was trapped LBW for a nine-ball duck by Axar Patel, who claimed a wicket on the very first delivery that he bowled.

Crawley soon completed a well-deserved half-century but just as it looked like his partnership with skipper Joe Root was taking dangerous proportions, Ravichandran Ashwin removed the latter as Root misjudged the length of the ball and ended up playing on the backfoot when he should have been forward. England 3-74.

Crawley eventually succumbed to Axar’s relentless ploy. It all happened on the fourth ball of the 25th over when Patel dished out a slider that went with the angle.

India vs England 2021: Twitter Reacts As Team India Takes Complete Control Of The Pink Ball Test
(Credits: Twitter)

Crawley expected it to turn and played the forward defense, only to see the ball sneek past the inside edge. The Indians went up straightaway and Umpire Nitin Menon had no hesitation in raising his finger.

The opener hung around for a bit before taking a long walk back to the pavilion after Ben Stokes advised him to not burn the review, given the fact that it was absolutely plumb. Crawley’s wicket rounded off a brilliant session for Team India as they went into the Tea Break with England reeling at 4/81.

The wickets of Joe Root and Zak Crawley proved to be the death knell for England as Ashwin and Crawley ran through their middle and lower order.

Ashwin claimed his 396th and 397th scalp by dismissing Ollie Pope and Jack Leach while Axar Patel knocked over Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer and all those wickets came off a straighter one.

Axar Patel
Axar Patel. (Credits: Twitter)

Axar Patel continued to weave his magic as he claimed his second successive five-wicket haul, helping India knock over England for a mere 112 runs.

With the match entering the twilight phase, the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad were always going to pose tough questions at the Indian openers, which they did with absolute precision on either side of the second session.

James Anderson kept probing outside the off-stump while Stuart Broad challenged both the outside as well as inside edge off Shubman Gill’s bat.

India, England
Ben Stokes [Image Credit: Twitter]
Broad could have had Gill on a couple of occasions. In the first instance, Ben Stokes- who claimed a bump catch- shelled a low catch in the slip-cordon while in the second instance, the rub of the green went the young opener’s way as he was saved by ‘Umpire’s Call’.

Gill eventually got off the mark after having faced as many as 26 deliveries with a cracking square-cut off Broad and he followed that with a disdainful short-arm jab off James Anderson in the very next over.

England eventually claimed the wicket of Gill, who mistimed an attempted pull-stroke off Jofra Archer, giving Zak Crawley an easy catch.

One brought two for England as Jack Leach claimed Cheteshwar Pujara for the third time in the series, this time pinning the Indian No.3 plumb in front of wicket via an arm ball.

India, England
Rohit Sharma [Image Credit: Twitter]
Rohit Sharma, however, continued to bat just like he had done in the first innings of the last Test. Whether it was his silken pulls or sumptuous square-cuts, and not to forget brilliant running between the wickets with Virat Kohli, the ‘Hitman’ looked imperious as he completed yet another high-quality fifty.

Virat Kohli, on the other hand, meant business as usual. The Indian skipper looked in complete control during his stay at the crease and the most pleasing aspect of his innings was the manner in which he ran between the wickets.

Kohli survived against James Anderson after Ollie Pope dropped a regulation catch in the slip cordon but it did not cost England much as Jack Leach induced a false stroke off the Indian captain’s bat in what turned out to be the last over of the day.

 

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