RAJKOT: India set England a huge target and then skittled the tourists out for 122 to romp to a 434-run victory in the third Test and go 2-1 up in the five-match series on Sunday.

India had been in the box seat since grabbing a handy first-innings lead of 126 and they never took their foot off the pedal at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed an unbeaten 214, Shubman Gill made 91 and debutant Sarfaraz Khan struck his second fifty of the match before India declared their second innings on 430-4.

Jaiswal equalled Wasim Akram’s record of hitting 12 sixes in a test innings and it followed his 209 in the second Test in Visakhapatnam.

Chasing an improbable 557 for victory, England slumped to 50-7 with Ravindra Jadeja (5-41) wrecking their middle order.

Once Kuldeep Yadav dismissed England captain Ben Stokes lbw for 15, the match was effectively over.

Mark Wood made a quickfire 33 before being the last England batter dismissed as India registered their biggest Test win in terms of runs.

“England played well and put us under pressure but we have class bowlers and the message was to stay calm,” home captain Rohit Sharma said. “It is easy to drift away from what you do as a team but I am really proud of how we came back.”

After play resumed on the penultimate day, Gill consolidated India’s position with his assured accumulation of runs.

Gill was run out after a misunderstanding with Kuldeep Yadav but there was no respite for England as Jaiswal, who had retired hurt on 104 on Saturday, walked in.

Jaiswal and Sarfaraz tore into the England attack and it suddenly started raining boundaries as they plundered 172 runs off 158 deliveries.

Jaiswal took a single off Root to bring up his double hundred, while Sarfaraz smashed three sixes in his unbeaten 68.

Left with a mountain to climb, England lost their openers cheaply and could never arrest the slide.

Ben Duckett (four) was run out after a horrible mix-up with Zak Crawley (11), who was trapped lbw by Jasprit Bumrah.

Jadeja mowed down the England middle order dismissing Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow and Root. Once Kuldeep removed England captain Ben Stokes lbw for 15, the match was effectively over.

Jadeja’s seven-wicket match haul, along with his hundred in the first innings, earned him the player of the match award at his home ground.

“Ben Duckett played an unbelievable first innings and that was the tone we wanted to set through the whole innings,” Stokes said. “We will leave this game behind us. We have to win the next two to win the series and that’s what we will be trying to do.”

SCOREBOARD

INDIA (1st Innings) 445 (R. Sharma 131, R. Jadeja 112, S. Khan 62; M. Wood 4-114, R. Ahmed 2-85)

ENGLAND (1st Innings) 319 (B. Duckett 153, B. Stokes 41; M. Siraj 4-84)

INDIA (2nd Innings, overnight 196-2):

Y. Jaiswal not out 214

R. Sharma lbw b Root 19

S. Gill run out 91

R. Patidar c Ahmed b Hartley 0

K. Yadav c Root b Ahmed 27

S. Khan not out 68

EXTRAS (LB-9, W-2) 11

TOTAL (for four wickets decl, 98 overs) 430

DID NOT BAT: R. Jadeja, D. Jurel, R. Ashwin, J. Bumrah, M. Siraj

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-30 (Sharma), 2-191 (Patidar), 3-246 (Gill), 4-258 (Yadav)

BOWLING: Anderson 13-1-78-0 (1w), Root 27-3-111-1, Hartley 23-2-78-1, Wood 10-0-46-0 (1w), Ahmed 25-1-108-1

ENGLAND (2nd Innings):

Z. Crawley lbw b Bumrah 11

B. Duckett run out 4

O. Pope c Sharma b Jadeja 3

J. Root lbw b Jadeja 7

J. Bairstow lbw b Jadeja 4

B. Stokes lbw b Yadav 15

B. Foakes c Jurel b Jadeja 16

R. Ahmed c Siraj b Kuldeep 0

T. Hartley b Ashwin 16

M. Wood c Jaiswal b Jadeja 33

J. Anderson not out 1

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-4, NB-3) 12

TOTAL (all out, 39.4 overs) 122

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-15 (Duckett), 2-18 (Crawley), 3-20 (Pope), 4-28 (Bairstow), 5-50 (Root), 6-50 (Stokes), 7-50 (Ahmed), 8-82 (Foakes), 9-91 (Hartley)

BOWLING: Bumrah 8-1-18-1 (1nb), Siraj 5-2-16-0, Jadeja 12.4-4-41-5 (2nb), Yadav 8-2-19-2, Ashwin 6-3-19-1

RESULT: India won by 434 runs.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Ravindra Jadeja (India)

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2024