Ravichandran Ashwin dismisses Ben Duckett for sixth time (Tests): Stats
Team England suffered a major blow in the third innings of the ongoing fourth Test against India with opener Ben Duckett departing for 15. Ravichandran Ashwin turned out to be his nemesis once again as the off-spinner dismissed Duckett for the third time in this series. Overall, Ashwin now owns six dismissals against Duckett in Test cricket. Here we decode their battle.
How did Ashwin dismiss Duckett?
Duckett had to face Ashwin straightway as the latter was handed the new ball on Day 3 of the Ranchi Test. Though the southpaw was beaten on a few occasions, he gathered a boundary off Ashwin's bowling via a reverse sweep. However, Duckett's stay ended in the fifth over as he hit Ashwin's tossed-up delivery to Sarfaraz Khan at forward short leg.
Third dismissal in this series
As mentioned, Duckett has now fallen to Ashwin three times across six meetings this series. However, the former has been pretty aggressive against the talismanic spinner, accumulating 52 runs off 79 balls. Notably, Ashwin dismissed the southpaw three times in as many meetings in the 2016 home series as well.
Most dismissals against Duckett
Coming to overall numbers, Ashwin has now sent back Duckett six times in nine Test meetings with the batter averaging a poor 12 in this battle. Notably, no other bowler has dismissed the England opener even four times in the longest format. Australian pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood trail Ashwin, having dismissed Duckett thrice apiece.
Here are Duckett's overall numbers
Besides a 153 in the preceding Test in Rajkot, Duckett has been guilty of throwing away his starts in this series as his scores read 35, 47, 21, 28, 153, 4, 15, and 11. Overall, he has raced to 1,435 Test runs at a decent average of 42.20. 332 of his runs have come against India at 30.18.
Ashwin completes 350 Test wickets at home
With his third wicket in the ongoing game, Ashwin went past Anil Kumble (350) to become the highest wicket-taker in Tests in India (Average: 21-plus). The off-spinner has also now raced past 100 Test wickets against England, averaging 29-plus. Meanwhile, Duckett's dismissal saw Ashwin race to 503 Test wickets at an average of around 25. The tally includes 34 fifers.
How has the match proceeded?
Joe Root (122*) helped England post 353 while batting first. Ollie Robinson scored a handy 58 lower down the order. Ravindra Jadeja dismissed four batters. While Yashasvi Jaiswal (73) starred at the top for India, Dhurv Jurel scored an excellent 90 as India managed 307. Shoaib Bashir claimed a fifer. England, in their second innings, lost their first three wickets inside 65 runs.
