In these Covid crisis times, any Test cricket with spectators is worth celebrating, and if there is some genuine excitement to be had, so much the better. After three games in India, we’ve run the whole gamut from England’s run glut to a superb home side response then a crazy two-day-one-nighter. We’ve experienced everything bar a tie or a five-day washout. Who, apart from any Ahmedabad ticketholders for days three to five, could ask for more?
The Root and Anderson show in Chennai three weeks ago seemed to herald a new era of England dominance on Asian soil. Serve up a turning pitch? No problem: Joe Root is one of the best players of spin in the world, Sibley (and the absent Crawley) are learning and the rest can just get out of trouble by hitting Ashwin et al out of the ground. In any case, we’ve Leach, Bess and Moeen Ali so World Test Championship final, here we come!
Then came the Chennai replay, and such ECB optimism took a mighty blow. Ollie Stone didn’t disgrace himself with the ball and Moeen can always look back on the dismissal which not even run-less Virat Kohli could accept as reality. But that’s as good as it got. Rohit Sharma plundered 161 then England’s batsmen couldn’t cope with debutant Axar Patel and the wily Ravichandran Ashwin who rubbed it in further by contributing a second-innings ton of his own. The winning margin of 317 runs told the story but the 1-1 scoreline set up an intriguing day-night encounter in the spanking new stadium of Ahmedabad.
As things turned out, it very nearly was just that: a single day-nighter. Apart from Ishant Sharma celebrating his 100th Test with Sibley’s scoreless wicket and a solitary Archer effort, the Third Test was all about spin. Whilst England looked vulnerable picking only Jack Leach as a specialist, it was the part-time off-breaks of Joe Root which sparked a glimmer of hope on the second morning, taking 5-8, but the partnership of Ashwin and Patel was merciless. If they didn’t turn the ball off an edge they simply bowled it straight onto the pads. Batting looked impossible but of course much of the damage had been done in the mind.
The
whole match was wrapped up in a mere 140 overs, barely lasting into the sixth
session. Incredibly this was the quickest Test victory by any side since 1935
and England’s first two-day defeat for well over a century. Of course this will
probably go down as an extraordinary one-off and the final fixture will provide
a more even contest between bat and ball. However, India must be buzzing.
Ashwin has reached the 400-wicket mark in near-record time and Patel will make
opponents pay extra attention to his fingers and flight in the future. Also
England cannot now win the series, but there remains some pride to fight for.
