Ahmedabad: India bowled England out for 205 in their first innings on the first day of the fourth and final Test, here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday.
At stumps, India were 24/1 with Rohit Sharma (8* off 34) and Cheteshwar Pujara (15* off 36) at the crease. Opener Shubman Gill did not disturb the scorer.
Again England better could not face the spinners effectively. However, they put up a better show as compared to the last two games.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel (4/68) and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (3/47) shared seven wickets between them, while pacer Mohammed Siraj took two scalps for considering 45 runs in 14 overs.
Earlier, the visitors won the toss and chose to bat first. England got off to a bad start as they lost both the openers, Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley, early.
Sibley (2) was cleaned bowled by Patel, who begged 11 wickets in the previous Test at the same stadium. Soon, Crawley and skipper Joe Root departed for 9 and 5, respectively, in the first session of the match.
Then, Jonny Bairstow and all-rounder Ben Stokes added 48 runs for the fourth wicket before Bairstow was given LBW. Bairstow got LBW off Mohammed Siraj for 28. During the course his innings, he hit 6 fours.
Ben Stokes, who was looking good, was removed by off-spinner Washington Sundar for 55. Stokes hit five fours and two towering sixes before he was given Leg Before Wicket (LBW). It was angling in for the left-hander Stokes and he plumed in front of stumps, reducing English side for 121 for 5 in 46.4 overs.
After the dismissal of Stokes, who scored his 24th Test fifty, the visitors kept losing their wickets and could score 205 runs in 75.5 overs.
Daniel Lawrence, who was the second-highest scorer for England, made 46 runs. Ollie Pope also played some good shorts before removed by Ashwin for 29.
In reply, India too started off badly as veteran medium-pacer James Anderson trapped Gill LBW for duck.
India leading the four-match series 2-1. Virat Kohli-led side need to avoid the defeat to enter the World Test Championship Final. If England win this match then Australia will face New Zealand in the Championship Final. (UNI)
