India vs England 4th Test, Day 1 Highlights.India vs England 4th Test, Day 1 Highlights: India were on 24/1 at stumps after England were bowled out for 205 on the first day of the fourth and final Test against India at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
Opting to bat first, England reached 74/3 at lunch on the opening day after losing three quick wickets in the first session. Ben Stokes (55) and Daniel Lawrence (46) led the charge for the visitors in the second and third sessions but Axar Patel (4/68) and Ravichandran Ashwin’s (3/47) combined effort ended England’s misery in their 76th over.
During India’s first innings, James Anderson struck gold on his third ball as he dismissed Shubman Gill for a duck. Rohit Sharma (8*) and Cheteshwar Pujara (15*) guided the hosts over the line by being defiant to the opposition bowling attack.
4th Test, Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad, 04 Mar, 2021
Rohit (8*) and Pujara (15*) make it to the end of the opening day, leading India to 24/1 after the completion of 12 overs. After being bowled out for 205 earlier, England bounced back with the wicket of Gill on the third ball of India's innings through Anderson. The veteran pacer ends the day on 1/0 with five straight maidens. Can the hosts take a lead tomorrow or will there be a capitulation?
Pujara (0*) holds his ground well alongside Rohit (4*) against the England pacers, Anderson and Stokes. IND: 4/1 (5 overs)
Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma open for the hosts, while James Anderson opens the attack. After two fuller deliveries, the veteran pacer gets his reward on the third ball. Gill was too slow to defend the delivery and he gets out on a LBW! IND: 0/1 (0.3 overs)
ALL OUT! Ashwin bags the last wicket of Leach and ends the misery of the visiting side, who have been dwindling right from the start. Stokes (55) and Lawrence (46) gave their all but Axar (4/68) and Ashwin (3/47) steal the limelight yet again.
Jofra Archer is not playing in the fourth Test match due to his ongoing right elbow issue. The ECB medical team will provide an update in due course. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes has an upset stomach. It is not expected to keep him off the field in the ongoing Test.
Double trouble for the visitors! First, Axar scalps the wicket of the settled Lawrence. The batsman tried to go for a big six but he gets dismissed via a caught behind. Three balls later, Bess gets caught between the wickets. Downfall. ENG: 189/9 (71 overs)
R Ashwin got better of Foakes as Ajinkya Rahane took the catch. Floated up outside off stump, Foakes leans forward to defend, but this seemed to have curved away and then just turned enough and he only managed an outside edge to which Rahane was very alert at slip.
Ashwin scalped Oliie Pope's wicket again. A nice catch taken by Shubman Gill. The inside edge hits the back leg and pops to Gill at short leg.
With an unbeaten 33*-run partnership between Ollie Pope (23) and Daniel Lawrence (23), England total has gone past 150 with the loss of 5 wickets. England lost Stokes when the score was 121.
India managed to get two wickets after lunch break conceding just 70 runs, making it yet another dominating session for the hosts. After Stokes' dismissal, both Pope (21*) and Lawrence (15*) are standing tall in the middle right now. ENG: 144/5 (56 overs)
Lawrence finds his groove early on and smacks Axar for two consecutive boundaries -- the first one down the track and then one through sweeper cover. Him and Pope, both 23, have an immense task ahead of them now on Day 1. ENG: 130/5 (50 overs)
The spinners continue to romp on! Sundar scalps the big wicket of Stokes after catching him dead plumb on his back pad between the wickets. Even the batsman knows his fate and he walks off on 55. Daniel Lawrence comes on. ENG: 121/5 (47 overs)
England are taking things a bit slow now, trying to save their wickets considering their condition in the last Test in Motera. Still, the visitors have something to clap about... Stokes (51*) brings up his 24th Test fifty with a brilliant boundary. ENG: 115/4 (45 overs)
After a wicketless run of ten overs, Kohli opts for a change. He brings in Washington in place of the in-form Siraj to come up with some magic with the ball. Stokes (40*) is leading the charge for the visitors with Pope (9*) by his side. ENG: 101/4 (40 overs)
The growing fourth-wicket partnership is over! Siraj bagged his second wicket of the day after catching Bairstow plumb right down the middle of the wicket. Despite taking a review, the batsman walks off on 28. Next up, Ollie Pope. ENG: 78/4 (29 overs)
Ashwin restarts the play with the ball and Stokes (25*) handles it well in the opening four balls taking a single. England have to be careful against the India spinners who previously spelt doom for the visitors in the previous Test. ENG: 75/3 (26 overs)
India have started well in the final Test, snatching three wickets in the first session of the match. While Axar scalped two wickets, Siraj contributed with a solitary wicket. Meanwhile, Stokes (24*) and Bairstow (28*) are in the middle. ENG: 74/3 (25 overs)
Ben Stokes hits the first six of England innings that too against R Ashwin. It was down the track and he's lofted him over mid-off. Stokes advancing confidently and making good use of good batting conditions.
Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow pair is trying to spend some time in the middle after England lost three quick wickets. Recovering from 30-3, both have stitched a small but important partnership of 25* runs.
Axar Patel, who is playing his third Test, is eyeing a unique record of most wickets in the first three Tests of his career. The left-arm spinner has taken 20 wickets so far and he is just two wickets away from R Ashwin's 22 wickets. While Narendra Hirwani holds the record of 31 wickets in the first three Tests of his career.
Big blow to England innings. Joe Root out. Mohd Siraj got the English skipper LBW. What a start after the break. How did Root miss that? Siraj charging in and angling a length ball to the sticks, Root played a long way outside the line of the ball.
Axar Patel is on a fabulous wicket-taking streak, got Crawley out for just 9 runs. He hit straight up in the air to mid-off, where Siraj holds onto the simplest of catches. Zak Crawley c Siraj b Axar 9(30) [4s-1]. Joe Root is the new man in.
Axar Patel to Sibley, out Bowled! Axar provided India the much needed breakthrough in his second ball. The batsman has played for turn that isn't there, gets a tiny inside edge on the forward defence, and that's crashed into the stumps. Sibley out for 2.
ENG 10/1
Ishant Sharma bowls the first over of the fourth Test. The colour of the ball has changed from Pink to Red. India lost their first DRS in the second ball of the match only. Ishant to Zak Crawley. Kohli reviews! Zak Crawley is beaten on the inside edge trying to defend, struck on the knee-roll. Missing! Going over the stumps, and India lose a review!
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant(w), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj
England (Playing XI): Dominic Sibley, Zak Crawley, Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root(c), Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Ben Foakes(w), Daniel Lawrence, Dominic Bess, Jack Leach, James Anderson
Virat Kohli says, "We would've batted first too. It looks good to bat on, on Day 1. It's been unbelievable captaining India for so long, and in Tests we have come up the ranks quite well. We look forward to coming together as a side. We have a great bunch of guys who have bought into my vision as captain. We have to be at our best, and England are a quality side, who have and can put us under pressure. We have to be at the top of our game. Mohammad Siraj comes in in place of Jasprit Bumrah."
Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat first. "We're batting first. We need to make use of the first innings, because it'll spin again very soon so we need to get runs on the board soon. Over the last couple of years we have progressed as a side, and it'd be a great chance to finish a great winter if we win this Test match. When you have a tough couple of games, we need to be honest, use the coaching staff and players who have experience in these conditions, and this is a good chance for the guys to regroup and give this their all," he said.
“Defensive batting in Test cricket is a dying art. You need to focus on your defence to overcome the spin challenge on turning tracks.” Virat Kohli, unperturbed by the “noise” around raging turners, sent out a message on the eve of the fourth India-England Test, on a Motera wicket expected to help spinners. Read Full Preview
Hello and welcome to the live blog on the fourth and final Test of the India vs England series which will determine India's place in the World Test Championship final. With 2-1 in the four-match series, Kohli's men will do their best to repeat the last win.