The Axar-Ashwin show: India hammer England in day-night Test inside two days

PTI, Feb 25, 2021, 8:03 PM IST

Ahmedabad: India registered only their second Test victory inside two days, overhauling a meagre target of 49 against England in the day-night third game to take an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series here on Thursday.

The last time India won inside two days in a Test was in 2018, beating Afghanistan in Bengaluru. England’s previous Test loss inside two days came way back in 1921 against Australia.

There was no end to England’s batting woes against the spin duo of Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin as the side folded for 81 in its second innings. This was the team’s lowest Test total against India.

Openers Rohit Sharma (25) and Shubman Gill (15) then completed the formalities in 7.4 overs, barely half an hour into the final session of the day.

Earlier, Patel picked five wickets in the English second essay, adding to his outstanding haul of six in the first innings. His became the best bowling performance in a pink-ball match.

Ashwin, on the other hand, added four more to his first-day spoils of three scalps to cross the 400-wicket mark in the longest format.

He became the fourth Indian after Anil Kumble (619), Kapil Dev (434) and Harbhajan Singh (417) to achieve the feat.

England”s scorecard bore a dismal look with all-rounder Ben Stokes 25 and Ollie Pope”s 12 being the best contributions.

In the afternoon session, India”s first innings folded for 145 with opener Rohit Sharma top-scoring with a 66-run knock. England captain Joe Root returned career-best figures of 5/8 for his team.

Brief Scores:

England: 112 and 81 in 30.4 overs (Ben Stokes 25, Axar Patel 5/32, Ravichandra Ashwin 4/48).

India: 145 all out and 49 for no loss in 7.4 overs (Rohit Sharma 25 not out, Shubman Gill 15 not out).