5th Test: England fold for 218; Kuldeep, Ashwin shine
A terrific performance from Indian bowlers meant England were bundled out for 218 on Day 1 of the ongoing fifth and final Test in Dharamsala. Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he claimed 5/72 in 15 overs. Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed four batters. Opener Zak Crawley (79) scored the most for England as no other batter breached the 30-run mark.
A fine start for England
Despite the Dharamsala track having swing on offer for new-ball pacers, England were off to a fine start with Crawley and Ben Duckett (27) adding 64 runs for the opening wicket. Kuldeep dismissed the latter to draw the first blood. Crawley formed another brief partnership with Ollie Pope (11) as England completed 100 runs with the loss of just one wicket.
Kuldeep runs through the line-up
Kuldeep dismissed Pope to provide India with another breakthrough. He was also the one who stopped Crawley from touching the three-figure mark. While Jonny Bairstow (29) came out all guns blazing, Kuldeep dismissed him as well. Ben Stokes (0) became his fifth victim as England went from 174/3 to 183/8. Ravindra Jadeja claimed the important wicket of Joe Root (26).
Ashwin runs through the lower order
Playing his 100th Test, Ashwin dismissed Tom Hartley (6) and Mark Wood (0) to dent England further. While Ben Foakes (24) and Shoaib Bashir (11*) tried to consolidate with a brief 35-run stand, Ashwin dismissed the former to claim his third victim in the game. He also claimed the final wicket, dismissing James Anderson for a duck.
Kuldeep gets to 50 scalps
Kuldeep, who claimed 5/72 in 15 overs, completed 50 wickets with his fourth scalp in the game. Playing his 12th Test, he has now raced to 51 scalps as his average of 21.10 is the third-best among Indians with at least 50 scalps. This was his fourth Test fifer and a maiden one versus England. Overall, he has raced to 19 wickets against England.
Another fine spell from Ashwin
Ashwin, who claimed the last four wickets, finished with 4/51 in 11.5 overs. Playing his 100th Test, he has raced to 511 wickets at 23.83. 358 of his scalps have come at home at 21.23. While this was his 25th four-fer in the format, he also owns 35 five-wicket hauls. Against England, he has raced to 109 Test wickets at 28.29 (5W: 7).
Crucial knock from Crawley
Amid the challenging conditions, Crawley backed his attacking game and scored 79 off 108 balls. The right-handed batter has now raced to 2,611 runs at 33.05. The tally includes four tons and 14 half-centuries. This was his fifth Test fifty against India as he has completed 562 runs against them at 33.05. He has raced to 407 runs in this series (50s: 4).
Do you know?
Crawley became just the sixth England opener to score 400 or more runs in a bilateral Test series in India. He has joined the likes of Alastair Cook (562 in 2012), Graham Gooch (487 in 1981-82), Tim Robinson (444 in 1984-1985), and Graeme Fowler (438 in 1984-85), and Dennis Amiss (417 in 1976-1977).
