The day began with the English fans, scattered around the Amitabh Choudhary Pavilion, joyously rendering ‘Jerusalem’, the unofficial hymn of their cricket team.
Their enthusiasm was rightly placed, considering England needed just three wickets to clock a substantial first-innings lead against India in the fourth Test and prime itself for a series-levelling win.
But, contrary to English expectations, it was the Indian fans who sang the joyous closing notes at the end of the third day’s play after the home side roared back into contention at the JSCA Stadium here.
It all started with a level-headed knock from the young Dhruv Jurel, in a nippy morning session, which prevented England from banking a hefty first-innings lead. Then the Indian spin trio took over, cluttering England out in a session-and-a-half, giving their batters a target of 192 to chase.
Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal soon knocked off 40 off those runs in quick time to set up a grandstand finish on Monday.
Highlights | IND vs ENG day 3
Earlier in England’s second innings, Indian skipper Rohit didn’t wait too long to show his hand, as he deployed spin from both ends right from the start. Opener Ben Duckett was the first to break after he nicked one off a crafty R Ashwin to Sarfaraz Khan at short-leg.
Ashwin made it two-in-two after he employed a deceptive under-cutter to dismiss Ollie Pope LBW, reducing England to 19 for two.
With a surging crowd behind its back, India pushed on for more. But much like the first innings, Zak Crawley dished out a counter punch, to reverse the tide. The English opener was uninhibited in his stroke play, drilling Ashwin for three fours in an over.
India’s Ravichandran Ashwin with teammates celebrates the wicket of England’s Joe Root. | Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR/ The Hindu
Ashwin though had his eyes trained on a bigger prize - first-innings centurion Joe Root. The English No.4 had started sedately, continuing to rely on his defensive blueprint which served him well earlier in the match.
The Indian off-spinner switched things up by going around the wicket and struck gold when a straighter delivery kept low and caught a surprised Root in front of the stumps.
Just when England and Crawley thought they had outlasted Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav took over. The left-arm wrist spinner sent back a well-set Crawely to the hut, with one that spun into the stumps viciously.
Kuldeep added one more to his burgeoning scrapbook of unplayable deliveries with a jaffa against Ben Stokes. The England skipper, who was nailed onto his crease, was served one outside his leg stump before it boomeranged into his pads and then onto his stumps.
The Indian spinners were marshalled on by a tactful Rohit, whose field placements succeeded in amplifying the pressure from the bowlers. Sarfaraz Khan’s positioning in the dismissal of Tom Hartley exemplified the Indian skipper’s effect.
Hartley had already shown he could go big, with a six over mid-wicket against Jadeja, who had just scalped Jonny Bairstow for his only wicket of the innings. Sensing that the English batter would try to do the same against Kuldeep, Rohit placed Sarfaraz between mid-on and long-on. Soon enough, Hartley tried to go over the top, only to offer a catch to the Indian fielder, who was placed to perfection.
Ben Foakes and Shoaib Bashir resisted admirably but for not too long as Ashwin wrapped up the English innings to complete his 35th Test fifer.
Earlier in the morning, Jurel continued his overnight partnership with a determined Kuldeep. The pair tempered England’s bowling attack on a pitch that largely remained firm thanks to a significant dip in temperature.
The left-handed Kuldeep, for the second consecutive match, displayed his defensive wares to frustrate the English bowlers. His front-foot defence was water-tight, particularly against the spinners. He and Jurel played out over 33 overs in their 76-run stand much to the joy of an Indian crowd, which was starting to out-voice their English counterparts.
England finally broke through thanks to the ever-green James Anderson, who forced Kuldeep to chop one on, with Jurel on 49.
Also read | Shoaib Bashir becomes second youngest overseas bowler to pick five wickets in India
The 23-year-old Jurel soon began farming the strike, while taking calculated risks. He targeted the straight boundaries, muscling both Bashir and Hartley for sixes over the sight screen.
Debutant Akash Deep resisted for a while, even smoking Bashir for a six, over cow corner. The English off-spinner though was not to be denied his maiden First-Class fifer, as he slid a quicker one in to hit Akash on the pads, in front of the stumps.
With the last man Mohammed Siraj in company, Jurel cracked a few more boundaries, bringing India’s arrear under 50, before he was bowled by a Hartley ripper. He fell 10 short of a well-deserved maiden Test hundred, much to the disappointment of the Indian fans. Their frowns though would be turned upside down soon enough.
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