India vs England Live Score 5th Test, IND vs ENG: Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill look to build on their partnership
India vs England Live Score 5th Test, IND vs ENG: The last 4 days of this riveting Test series remain, and if England are to salvage some pride from these remaining 96 hours, they’ve got to play some outstanding cricket – probably the best these 11 players have ever played in their life. Why? Because that’s the kind of spot yet another period of poor 45 minutes has put them in. Day 1 was proving to be such a batting belter. Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley had even seen England through the first 45-odd minutes. The runs were coming, the partnership was flowing… all that before disaster struck.…Read More
With Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah bowling a string of tidy overs full of some of the most unplayable deliveries, England were off to something, but all that changed when Kuldeep Yadav was given the ball to. Seven years removed from his Test debut at this very venue, it was as if time had stood still. Admired highly by the late great Shane Warne, Kuldeep produced a spell much like the former spin wizard in a 45-minute breathtaking display of bowling.
England, who looked rather set on 137/2, did not know what hit them, and crumbled to 218 all out – losing 7 wickets for 81 runs in yet another batting collapse. Kuldeep began the damage by first foxing Duckett by a google as Shubman Gill took a catch – that reminded India of a certain Travis Head – to give India the first breakthrough. Ollie Pope’s struggles continued – can’t believe he is the same batter whose 196 denied India a win in Hyderabad – and he was out stumped, so far down the track was he that it was almost as if he wanted to have an early lunch or something.
Crawley, having smashed a fourth half-century of the series, played some glorious shots but like the previous three occasions, could not convert it into a century. Kuldeep, channeling her inner Warne, produced his version of the ‘ball of the century’ that turned nine degrees and then some to castle the England opener. Through the gates… if there was ever a more opportune moment.
And the collapse had begun. Jonny Bairstow, playing his 100th Test, played a cameo of sorts but once fancy drive too many and the edge was taken by Dhruv Jurel. In between all Kuldeep show, Ravindra Jadeja snuck in with the wicket of Joe Root, and when Kuldeep picked up his fifth, having Ben Stokes pinned on the backfoot, he had his fifer – richly deserved – and gave the England captain one of the worst batting returns of his career. With five down, Ravichandran Ashwin, the milestone man, was handed the ball for his second spell and he wrapped up the tail by picking up four quick wickets.
If there was ever a semblance of hope, it was erased by the Indian openers and Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal raced away to another blistering start. The pair put on 104 runs at the same pace they have throughout the series. While Rohit batted cautiously, Yashasvi ‘Jaz-balled’ his way to another cracking fifty and became just the second man since the legendary Sunil Gavaskar to go past 700 runs in a series. Madness.
