England succumbed to their trial by spin as India were left 192 to win the fourth Test and the series following Ravichandran Ashwin’s five-wicket haul.
After India turned an overnight 219 for seven into 307 all out, whittling a first-innings deficit down to 46, Ashwin’s five for 51 and Kuldeep Yadav’s four for 22 led to England being skittled for 145.
Zak Crawley top-scored with 60, but his dismissal marked the start of England’s collapse from 110 for three on the third afternoon on a pitch offering significant turn and uneven bounce.
England, trailing 2-1 in the five-match series, were unable to make a breakthrough in the last half hour as they try to force a decider in Dharamshala next month, with India closing on 40 without loss.
Joe Root and Tom Hartley shared the new ball and Shoaib Bashir, who earlier became the second youngest English men’s bowler to take a Test five-wicket haul in just his eighth first-class appearance, had an over and it is likely the trio will have plenty of work to do to prevent an England defeat on day four.
The tourists are not out of it, but may end up ruing Ollie Robinson dropping Dhruv Jurel on 59, with the wicketkeeper making 90 to lead India’s recovery from 177 for seven the previous evening.
There was more DRS controversy as Joe Root was given lbw on review, with former England captain Michael Vaughan suggesting on social media enough of Ashwin’s delivery had pitched outside leg-stump.
But England’s batters were outfoxed by India’s vaunted spinners, with Rohit Sharma turning immediately to Ashwin in the second innings despite an underwhelming series beforehand, averaging nearly 39.
Ashwin, though, is a master of these conditions and bagged his 350th and 351st Test wickets in India from successive deliveries to set the hares running.
Ben Duckett was first persuaded into a defensive push to short-leg on 15 then Ollie Pope got into a tangle as he misjudged the length and was leg-before for a golden duck and a three-ball pair in the Test.
Crawley negotiated the hat-trick ball and settled into some rhythm with three cover drives for four in four deliveries when India’s premier spinner over-pitched, but a blossoming stand with Root ended on 46 when the Yorkshireman missed a flick after helping to stretch England’s lead to three figures.
There was some suspicion most of Ashwin’s delivery from round the wicket had landed outside leg, but India’s review returned three reds and first-innings centurion Root was on his way for 11, despite scepticism on social media about the result technology returned.
Jonny Bairstow was punchy early on and Crawley moved to a third fifty of the series, but India still had one more trump card in Kuldeep, who followed up an obdurate 28 off 131 balls by ransacking England’s batting.
Crawley’s fourth ball against the left-arm wrist-spinner turned lavishly through the gate and clattered middle stump, while Ben Stokes made a chancy four off 13 balls before meeting the same fate.
Stokes was first struck on the back leg by a scuttler and initially seemed oblivious as to why India were celebrating but threw his head back and grinned wryly after turning round and seeing the bails on the ground.
When Bairstow tamely punched the first ball after tea to cover off Ravindra Jadeja to depart for 30, England had lost three wickets for 10 runs in 31 balls, leaving Ben Foakes to bat with the bowlers.
Robinson’s dismal day continued as he was twice struck on the pad by Kuldeep, overturning one lbw verdict but not the other and out for a three-ball duck, before Foakes and Bashir dug in.
The pair put on 12 in 74 balls, but Foakes chipped back to Ashwin, who had his first five-for of the series when James Anderson got a tickle to a reverse sweep.
Bashir earlier bagged the one scalp he needed for a first five-wicket haul in any form of professional cricket in just his second Test after snaring Akash Deep and the 20-year-old should have accounted for Jurel, only for the ball to burst through Robinson’s hands at midwicket.
Tom Hartley gave an indication of what was to come by turning one sharply past Jurel’s bat and castling him on the stroke of lunch, but England had allowed India to add a princely 130 for the last three wickets.
“We have the manpower within the dressing room”- Sammy confident Windies can overcome 0-2 deficit against England
West Indies white ball head coach Daren Sammy says there’s still optimism in his camp that they can overcome the 0-2 deficit they currently face in their five-game T20I series against England.
The hosts lost the first two game of the series at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday and Sunday, with the rest of the series now shifting to the Daren Sammy Stadium in St. Lucia beginning with the third T20I on Thursday.
“Most definitely, especially here in St. Lucia,” Sammy said in a pre-match interview on Tuesday regarding his team’s optimism ahead of Thursday’s must-win game and the rest of the series.
“Yes, England have played better cricket than us in these first two games but I’ve rallied St. Lucia to come out and be the 12th man that we need here. We just haven’t played the brand of cricket that has allowed us to win and it’s something that we’re going to address but we have the manpower within that dressing room to win on Thursday and take it one game at a time,” he added.
The West Indies will be without two key players for the rest of the series in Andre Russell and Shamar Joseph.
Russell suffered an ankle injury in the first T20I on Saturday and has been ruled out for the rest of the series while Joseph has left the squad to prepare for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh starting on November 22 in Antigua.
Replacing the pair are all-rounder Shamar Springer and spearhead Alzarri Joseph, returning to the squad after serving a two-game suspension.
“It’s always a blow to replace somebody like Andre Russell. We have young Shamar Springer who made his debut in Sri Lanka to replace him. He’s a really exciting prospect,” Sammy said.
“Shamar will go in and get ready for the Test series and Alzarri is back from his suspension. We’re looking forward to welcoming him and the experience he brings to the squad. Yes, we lose two key guys but we get two guys who are capable of doing the job for the team as well,” he added.
Springer replaces injured Russell in Windies squad for final leg of England T20Is in Saint Lucia; returning Alzarri Joseph replaces Shamar Joseph
All-rounder Shamar Springer and pacer Alzarri Joseph have been drafted into the West Indies T20I squad ahead of the crucial St. Lucia leg of their “Rivalry” series against England, CWI announced on Tuesday.
Springer replaces Andre Russell who has been ruled out due to a left ankle sprain sustained during the opening T20I at the Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Bajan recently made his international debut during the West Indies tour of Sri Lanka in October.
The other change sees Alzarri Joseph, having completed his two-match suspension, rejoin the squad in Saint Lucia, replacing Shamar Joseph.
The West Indies currently trail the five-match series 0-2.
The squad for the final three games is as follows:
Remaining Schedule of West Indies vs England T20I Series:
3rd T20 International: 14 November 2024- Daren Sammy Stadium, Saint Lucia
4th T20 International: 16 November 2024- Daren Sammy Stadium, Saint Lucia
5th T20 International: 17 November 2024- Daren Sammy Stadium, Saint Lucia
Pride get back on track with tense eight-run DLS method win over Volcanoes
The Barbados Pride rebounded from their defeat at the hands of the CCC in their last game with an eight-run DLS method win over the Windward Islands Volcanoes at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain on Monday.
In the rain-reduced 46 overs-per-side affair, the Pride, after winning the toss and choosing to bat, posted 239-9 from their 46 overs.
In form batsmen Kevin Wickham and Leniko Boucher led the way for the Pride with 47 and 43, respectively while Kemar Smith (34*) and captain Kyle Mayers (33) also made valuable contributions.
Kenneth Dember was excellent in his 10 overs of off-spin, finishing with figured of 3-33.
Set a revised target of 245 from 46 overs, the Volcanoes fell agonizingly short of a win, being bowled out for 237 in the end.
Jeremy Solozano tried his best with an 88-ball 85 while West Indies batsman Kavem Hodge made 37.
Mayers led from the front with the ball with 3-50 from seven overs of medium pace while Dominic Drakes and Javed Leacock each took a pair of wickets.
Full Scores:
Barbados Pride 239-9 off 46 overs (Kevin Wickham 47, Leniko Boucher 43, Kemar Smith 34*, Kyle Mayers 33, Kenneth Dember 3-33)
Windward Islands Volcanoes 237 off 46 overs (Jeremy Solozano 85, Kavem Hodge 37, Kyle Mayers 3-50, Javed Leacock 2-37, Dominic Drakes 2-42).
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