England slumped to a ten-wicket defeat against India at Ahmedabad in the third test to go 2-1 down in the series.
On a poor pitch with seventeen wickets falling on the second and final day, England were simply outclassed. Having been bowled out for 81, the hosts were left to score 49 to win which they achieved comfortably.
England go into match with just one spinner
On the opening morning of the test England went into the match with just one spinner in Jack Leach. The visitors decided to play three, Ravi Ashwin, Axar Patel and Sundar Washington.
England paired up the experienced pairing of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad with the hope of some pace to aid the seamers.
After the first session of play it was clear that spin would win this test match, and so it proved.
Poor pitch aiding the spinners
England won the toss and elected to bat first. On his 100th test match Ishant Sharma had Dom Sibley(0) caught at second slip. Jonny Bairstow also bagged a duck to the first ball of spin in the match. Patel picking up the scalp of Bairstow was the start of an exceptional match for the spinner.
Ravi Ashwin nabbed the crucial wicket of the England captain Joe Root as England slipped to 74 for 3. A fine innings of 53 by Zak Crawley was ended when Patel trapped him lbw.
England dismissed for 112
Ashwin picked up two wickets in seven deliveries as England struggled against spin on a very difficult track. Wickets fell on a regular basis with the visitors dismissed for 112. Patel taking 6-38 and his spin partner Ashwin 3 for 26.
India’s openers of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma put on 33 for the opening wicket before Jofra Archer had Gill(11) caught. Cheteshwar Pujara(0) lasted only four balls before falling to Jack Leach.
But a stand of 64 between Sharma and Virat Kohli rescued India before Kohli(27) fell on the stroke of the close of play with India 99 for 3 overnight.
Seventeen wickets fall on second day
In an extraordinary days play on the second day India lost there last seven wickets for 46 runs in the opening session. It was Root who was the hero by picking up 5 for 8 in just 28 balls as India subsided to 145 all out with Sharma making 66.
Trailing by 33 runs England’s bowlers had dragged the visitors back into the match, only for the batsman to let them down.
Crawley went first ball to Patel who then picked up the wicket of Bairstow(0) to the third ball of the innings.
Engloand shot out for just 81
Despite 25 from Ben Stokes and 19 from Root, England couldn’t handle the spin duo of Patel and Ashwin. The visitors were shot out for 81. All ten wickets fell to spin with Patel taking 5 for 32 and Ashwin 4 for 48.
India were left a paltry 49 to win which they duly completed in just 7.4 overs to take a 2-1 lead going into the final match of the series at Ahmedabad starting on 4th March.