The Indians came up with a terrific all-round display to tame England by ten wickets on Day 2 of the third day-night Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday. Chasing a target of 49, it was the pair of Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma that comfortably did the job.
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Resuming at the overnight score of 993, the pair of Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane looked to take control early on. However, just 15 runs later, Rahane was trapped leg-before by Leach for only seven, while Rohit followed him just a run later off the same bowler in a similar fashion.
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A run later, wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant edged it behind to Chris Foakes behind off Root for a mere single. At 125, it was all-rounder Washington Sundar, who was cleaned up by the same man for an unfortunate duck, followed by Axar at the same score off Root again, after being caught by Dominic Sibley for another duck.
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Nine runs later, all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin followed back for 17 off Root again, as Crawley caught him at deep square leg. The final man to depart was Jasprit Bumrah, at 145, with Root trapping him leg-before for just a single, while India leads by 33, as early tea was taken.
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As for the English, six bowlers were utilised, while the spinners had the most success. Root happened to be the most successful and economical of all.
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As England came out to bat, it was off to a rattling start, losing the opening two wickets in the first three balls of the innings from Axar, who bowled up Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow for ducks. Just 19 runs later, it was fellow opener Dominic Sibley, who fell for only seven to the same man after being caught behind by Rishabh Pant.
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Root and Stokes contributed to a 31-run stand for the fourth wicket before the latter fell for 25 to Ashwin after being trapped leg before at 50. Six runs later, Root was similarly dismissed for 19 by Axar, while Ollie Pope fell for 12, 10 runs later, as Ashwin knocked him over. The incoming batsmen could hardly contribute and all fell for single figures, with Stuart Broad the only batsman to remain unbeaten on zero.
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As for the Indians, they utilised just three bowlers, all in the form of spinners, as Axar and Ashwin did most of the hard work. Besides, Washington Sundar was the third bowler, who claimed the final wicket of James Anderson (0) in his opening over.
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With 49 runs to win, the Indians came out to bat for a couple of overs, as the openers Shubamn Gill (1*) and Rohit Sharma (6*) stayed unbeaten until the dinner break.Brief scores: England 112 & 81 (Stokes 25; Axar 532, Ashwin 448) leads India 145 & 110 (Rohit 6*; Root 02) by 37 runs.
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Resuming at the post-dinner session, at 110, the pair showed no signs of discomfort. They started attacking from the first ball of the session and quickly got the job done by ten wickets. As for the English bowlers, only a couple of them were utilised, but to no avail.Brief scores: England 112 & 81 (Stokes 25; Axar 532, Ashwin 448) lost to India 145 & 490 (Rohit 25*; Leach 015) by ten wickets.
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