Axar, Ashwin keep England to 205 in first inning of 4th test match

Team England was simply outplayed again at Day 1 of the fourth India vs England Test Match, today at Ahmedabad. Their fight against India’s rooted and quality bowling was visible but in vain.

Having won the toss and opting to bat first, the English batsman seemed to have a hard time against a strong attack by India, wrapping them up for 205 in the first inning. The English side continued with a scrappy and non lustrous performance, struggling to deal with the situation. The only satisfactory performance was from English all-rounder Ben Stokes who managed to score the highest, a half century (50 runs) on 121 balls.

India’s commanding position on day one of the test series can be attributed to Indian spinners like Axar Patel, R Ashwin and Washington Sundar. Axar continued his fine performance adding four more wickets to his tally. Meanwhile, Ravichandran Ashwin managed to claim three wickets. Right arm off-spinner Washington Sundar managed to dismiss the key wicket of Ben Stokes while Mohammad Siraj took away two wickets including that of England’s captain Joe Root.

England somehow managed to cross the 200-run mark after five innings with some help from Dan Lawence and Zak Crawley. Their bowlers will have to be at the forefront tomorrow and restrict India to a minimal score if they want a good position in the match again.

India called off the day at 24/1 as James Anderson dismissed Indian opener Shubham Gill for 0. Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara guided India ahead and stayed strong in action as the day’s match came to an end.

India will be looking forward to win or atleast draw this match against England so as to secure a spot in the finals of ICC World Test Championship.

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