Ahmedabad witnessed one of the craziest Test matches in recent times as four innings were over within two days. It was the spin that did the trick but the illusion of the spin.
The first day began with the inauguration of the new stadium at Motera, which was renamed as Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium. Soon, the toss went England’s way and they opted to bat first in the Day-Night Test.
Lesser did they knew that it was the only thing that would go their way. Sibley was the first man to go, he did make Ishant Sharma’s 100th Test better. Soon, the spinners took over. Axar Patel ran through the batting order of England, returned home with six wickets. Ashwin partnered with him very well, got three wickets to his name as well.
For England, nobody was able to pick up the deliveries as the team fell for 112. Crawley, who came into this match as a replacement underperforming Rory Burns, made use of the opportunity well and scored a fighting fifty on a tough pitch.
In return, India went on to lose three wickets by the end of Day 1 but Rohit Sharma made sure that the team ended up on a high. He made a fifty on Day 1 and got out for 66.
Day 2 didn’t go as either of the team would have planned. From 98-2, India fell poorly as they went on to lose all their wickets for just 145 runs. While Leach had four wickets, it was Joe Root who changed the course of the game. The Skipper had his first five wicket-haul, ended with five for eight.
England then fell terribly as Axar Patel once again dominated. Patel ended with five wickets and Ashwin, on the other hand, got four. Sundar bowled only one over and ended the things there. The team got out for just 81 with Ben Stokes top-scoring with 25.
In return, Rohit took the aggressive route added three fours and a six while Gill had a four and a six as India went past England for 2nd time in a row.
England are out of contention for the WTC Finals. The competition is now between Australia and India. If India goes on to win or draw the final Test, India will qualify but if England wins it, Australia will meet New Zealand in the final.
