India v England: hosts lead final test in Ahmedabad

The English batsmen failed again on the first day of the final test against India in Ahmedabad.

Ben Stokes made 55 and recalled Dan Lawrence 46, but tourists fluctuated between repeating old mistakes and reckless over-aggression.

India were excellent with the ball, left arm spinner Axar Patel once again up front with 4-68.

The home side lost Shubnam Gill on the second ball of their answer, only for Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara to guide them to 24-1 at the end.

With India leading the series 2-1, avoiding defeat will see them extend an unbeaten home record that dates back to 2012 and also book a World Test Championship final against New Zealand.

No different, different team, same result

England’s victory in the first test had been made a distant memory by their batting failures against the Indian Spinners in the next two – especially the third, a 10-wicket loss to a snake from a pitch to the same pitch. from Ahmedabad.

Expecting more of the same, England beefed up their stick and bowling by including Lawrence and Dom Bess to the detriment of pace bowlers Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer, who were later confirmed to have been ruled out with a recurrence of his elbow problem.

For their approach to work, England ideally needed to strike in the second day, allowing the pitch to deteriorate in order to provide more assistance to their heavy rotating attack.

Captain Joe Root called on his drummers to be “full of confidence” and to play in a “controlled but fearless” manner. Instead, some bore their scars in this final test, while others took the fight too far.

India’s opening rounds will provide context for England’s effort. Tourists may have enough lanes to be competitive and should have the benefit of bowling last.

However, the first signs from the ground are that India will have the opportunity to fight for a series victory.

England’s blurred approach

England’s course of the day was foreshadowed by the dismissals of forerunners Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley, both of whom left within 11 Axar deliveries after the spinner was introduced in Game 6.

Like so many before him, Sibley fell while playing for a nonexistent trick, walked through the door. Crawley pushed him to the other extreme, going down the field and getting horribly wrong halfway through.

Even those who had moderate success would end up falling shy or irresponsibly.

Stokes began his sleeves by exchanging words with Indian captain Virat Kohli. He continued to display solid defense and powerful sweeps before missing a right to be lbw at Washington Sundar.

Lawrence, at bat at number seven, showed poise and was just starting to dominate the bowling alley when he pointlessly ran to Axar and was taken aback by a distance.

The promising departures of Jonny Bairstow and Ollie Pope were interrupted with undertones of bad luck. Bairstow was marginally against Mohammed Siraj and the Pope played on both pads to be caught at short distance from Ravichandran Ashwin.

Root, pinned to the fold of the one Siraj managed to tighten, was one of the few who wasn’t complicit in his downfall. Considering the nature of the surface, the display in England was far from sufficient.

More soon.