Picture : Twitter / BCCI
India registered a thumping 10-wicket victory against England inside two days, in the third day-night Test, at the Narendra Modi stadium, in Ahmedabad.
Axar took 11 wickets in the match as England were shot out for their lowest score of 81 against India. Chasing 49 runs for victory, India openers Rohit Sharma (25 not out) and Shubman Gill (15 from 21 balls) completed the rout as the hosts chased down the target in only 7.4 overs.
In only his second Test, Axar (15-0-32-5), and a match-haul of 11/70, relentlessly hit the good length area and hoodwinked England’s batsmen, who played for turn only to find that there was none on offer from him.
At the other end, off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (15-3-48-4) was an ideal foil, becoming the fourth Indian bowler and second fastest in the world to complete a commendable milestone of 400 wickets with the dismissal of Jofra Archer.
This was after England skipper’s fabulous career-best spell of 6.2-3-8-5 resulted in India’s dramatic collapse from 114 for 3 to 145 all out in the first session.
India lost as many as seven wickets for only 31 runs after looking solid at 114 for 3 at one stage in the game but England lost all 10 in an entire session in which no pacer was seen in action.
Earlier, English skipper Joe Root brought England back in the Test with a magical spell in the first session on Day 2.
England’s captain took five wickets for eight runs in only 6.2 overs, out of which three were maidens, to dismiss the home side for 145 runs in their first innings.
India, who started the day on 99 for 3 in 33 overs, lost their last seven wickets for 46 runs in 20.2 overs, as they gained a lead of just 33 runs on the first innings. Jack Leach, took 4 for 54 in 20 overs.
India collapsed to 125 for 8, losing five wickets for 11 runs .
Root continued his wicket ways. This time Ravichandran Ashwin top-edged the sweep and was caught by Zak Crawley on the leg side for 17.
Root finished off the Indian innings with the wicket of Jasprit Bumrah, who went for the slog sweep, missed and was trapped LBW. He went for the review, which showed the impact in line and the ball going on to hit the stumps.
India were dismissed for 145 in 53.2 overs, a lead of 33 runs.
