India dominated most of day one proceedings at Motera but England have shows signs of positivity.
The first day of the day-night Test match between India and England, in Ahmedabad was dominated by spinners from both sides. England had the advantage as they won the toss and opted to bat. However, superb spells from the Indian spin duo of Axar Patel and R Ashwin helped India to bowl England out for a paltry total of 112. In response, India finished the day on 99/3, with Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane at the crease. Here, we shall have a look at the key takeaways from the day.
Zak Crawley’s confident knock
England’s overall batting performance in this innings was disappointing. Experienced batsmen like Joe Root (17) and Ben Stokes (6) failed to deliver. However, Crawley’s batting will give them much-needed confidence. The 23-year-old scored 53 off just 84 deliveries, and his innings was laced with 10 boundaries. He was confident in his strokeplay, and was the only one who dominated the Indian spinners until Axar trapped him plumb in front of the stumps with a deceptive arm-ball.
Axar Patel’s lethal spell
Axar had taken a five-wicket haul in the fourth innings of the second Test. He now improved on that with 6-38. He was on the money right from his first delivery on Day 1; he kept troubling the English batsmen with his incoming deliveries. He varied his pace nicely and kept changing the trajectories of his deliveries, making it difficult for the batsmen to judge his line and length. Five of the six batsmen he dismissed were either bowled or lbw, which sums up how much he attacked the stumps.
R Ashwin’s Purple Patch
Ashwin had already claimed a total of 17 wickets in the first two Tests. He stretched his tally to 20 wickets with another superb spell of 16-6-26-3 on Day 1. His victims included Root, Ollie Pope and Leach. The ball he bowled to get rid of Pope was a thing of beauty. It pitched on middle and off, turned just enough to breach Pope’s defence and cleaned him up. It showed the kind of rhythm Ashwin has at present and how much he is enjoying his bowling.
Rohit’s assurance at the crease
India have lost Shubman Gill (11), Cheteshwar Pujara (0) and Kohli (27), but Rohit’s unbeaten knock of 57 will give them a lot of assurance and confidence going into the second day. He looked completely at ease against the pacers and even Leach, who troubled the other Indian batsmen. He looked assured in his approach today and looks all set for a repeat of his 161 in the second Test.
Jack Leach’s controlled spell
England’s pacers didn’t turn out to be that effective on this track but left-arm spinner Leach kept challenging the Indian batsmen with his accurate line and lengths. He dismissed Pujara for a duck and then claimed the vital wicket of Kohli towards the fag end of the day. He finished the day with superb bowling figures of 10-1-27-2 and thus, he will be eager to carry that momentum forward into the second day.