England crash to dismal defeat in third Test as Jaiswal and Jadeja cap India rout
It is probably for the best that Ben Stokes has little interest in career milestones because his 100th Test match is one he will want to forget. This was his first genuine pummelling as England captain, India victorious by 434 runs to claim a richly-deserved 2-1 series lead after positively sticking their opponents in a tandoor.
Already kneaded into the requisite dough by a record-breaking unbeaten 214 from Yashasvi Jaiswal, the young superstar at the top of the Indian order, England were set a notional 557 to win in four-and-a-half sessions. By 4.45pm local time on day four they had been gobbled up, bowled out for 122 in just 39.4 overs.
This was the fare that the bumper Sunday crowd had turned up for in Rajkot, India’s dominance already established by that first English collapse to 319 all out on day three. And boy did they get what they ordered, Jaiswal equalling Wasim Akram’s record 12 sixes in a Test innings – taking him to a record 22 in a single Test series – and Ravindra Jadeja, one of their own, spinning his way to figures of five for 41.
All this felt very much possible when Jimmy Anderson was being launched for three successive sixes by a man 19 years his junior after lunch; a 21-run over that was his most costly since George Bailey clobbered him for 28 during the 2013-14 Ashes. Resuming the 104 that was paused by back spasms a day earlier, Jaiswal slog swept a full toss and drove the follow-up over extra, before a chef’s-kiss straight hit.
Alongside pocket-rocket debutant Sarfaraz Khan’s 68 not out from 72 balls, Jaiswal’s second double of the series in an hour of afternoon carnage saw Rohit Sharma become the first captain to wave his men in against Stokes. India’s 430 for four declared was both mercy for England’s bowlers and the start of an inquisition.
All the while, Ravichandran Ashwin was jetting back from his family emergency in Chennai, arriving at tea with just eight wickets left for him to add to a stash of 500. Ben Duckett had been run out in the kind of calamitous fashion that the sorriest collapses tend to include, Zak Crawley bullseyed lbw by Jaspit Bumrah. England grumbled about technology again afterwards but this was wide of the mark.
In the end Ashwin had to settle for just one more on the pile – Tom Hartley, for 16, late in the piece – thanks to Jadeja, his long-time partner in crime, positively filleting England’s middle order. This was the challenge England had been braced for before this tour; a claustrophobic ordeal inside a cage of close catchers, albeit on a bountiful surface that could not have been further from those thoughts.
First went Ollie Pope cutting to Sharma at slip on three, before Jonny Bairstow (three from four balls) and Joe Root (seven from 40) were pinned lbw on the sweep. Stokes swiftly went the same way to make it 50 for six in the 23rd over. He was first of two victims for Kuldeep Yadav on a day that began with 28 from nightwatchman, an irritant of an innings – not least for Shubman Gill, run out after a mix up on 91.
This one hiccup aside, India scarcely put a foot wrong across the final two days, with their response to Ashwin’s departure on the second evening – a time when England appeared to be surging through Duckett’s sweep-heavy century – deeply impressive.
Plenty went back to day one, of course, when Sharma’s commanding 133 and Jadeja’s diligent 112 doused the early flames of three for 33. It was hugely fitting that Jadeja should finish player of the match on this emotional homecoming. Ben Foakes and Mark Wood were the final victims as, for the second time in this remarkable all-rounder’s career, a century was followed up by a five-wicket haul.
There is now a tight turnaround before the fourth Test in Ranchi starts on Friday. Anderson and Wood, having scarcely had the chance to rest between innings – and positively Jaiswaled thereafter – will be the main selection talking points for Stokes and Brendon McCullum, although change higher in the order may also be discussed.
Loyalty has underpinned much of their approach (although Foakes may cock an eyebrow here, admittedly) but it looks increasingly unlikely that Bairstow, having batted five balls in this match, will join his captain in the 100-cap club on this tour. The Yorkshireman needs to reach the fifth instalment in Dharamshala to get there.
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Sentiment should not come into it. More relevant is Bairstow’s career struggles in India; too often stuck on the crease, five of his six dismissals for just 102 runs this time either bowled or lbw. Dan Lawrence, the spare bat, is also an extra option with the ball. And if the nets at lunch were anything to go by, Lawrence working on his whirlygig off-breaks, it may well be in their thoughts already.
Root has now sent down 107 overs on tour – 44 more than his previous highest odometer in a series – and England must surely lighten his load. The notion of a player simply being out of nick has disappeared from the discourse, replaced by the binary prism of Bazball, and yet Root waking up stiff every morning and saddled with thoughts of two disciplines feels more pertinent.
As Root trudged out to the middle at the start of the grim evening session, at least 18 for two was not unfamiliar territory. Of all the issues facing England before this tour – Stokes not bowling, a rookie spin attack – how to bring out the batter who used to turn around such scenarios is not a question they expected to be pondering.