India v England, second Test: day five – as it happened

India’s spinners blew England away to secure a 246-run victory just after lunch on the final day

7.49am GMT

Bright and early, here’s Vic Marks’ report from the final day.

Related: India’s spinners send England tumbling to 246-run defeat in second Test

7.07am GMT

This India victory was almost cliched. They won the toss on a wearing pitch, they got runs from Kohli (167 and 81) and wickets from Ashwin (match figures of 59.5-17-119-8). They are seriously hard to beat in these conditions. Scratch that, they are seriously hard to draw with in these conditions. Thanks for your company, bye.

7.03am GMT

That’s a thumping for England, yet they come out of the match with a fair bit of credit. At one stage it looked like they might lose inside three days. India were the better side and fully deserved victory. This could be the start of a miserable few weeks for England; all eyes will be on the pitch and the toss at Mohali when the third Test begins on Saturday. Some tosses are bigger than others, and this one will be huge.

7.01am GMT

“What larks today,” says Guy Hornsby. “I’m bloody knackered. A very Monday feeling to this Test match, none more so than for Duckett and Ansari. You’d hope they’re able to come back from this, rather than be another footnote, a ‘whatever happened to’ section.”

I fear Ansari will be filed alongside Ian Blackwell. Duckett should be back.

7.00am GMT

Jayant Yadav finishes the match with the aid of DRS. Anderson played defensively outside the line of a ball that went onto hit the pad, and though it was given not out by Kumar Dharmasena, replays showed it was hitting leg stump. India have won the second Test!

6.57am GMT

Broad is out, doesn’t matter how. Might be LBW or caught, we’re not sure. The confusion gives Broad a chance to review, but I suspect this will be out. Replays show he missed an attempted sweep and was hit on the boot in front of off and middle by a ball that would have gone on to hit the stumps.

6.54am GMT

97th over: England 154-8 (Bairstow 34, Broad 1) In other news, there was a bit of a rumble at Adelaide airport this morning involving the South African team and Australian media. Here’s a statement from South Africa’s team manager.

“Some guy on Cricinfo at the start of the Test, said that this is a 450, 250, 150 dec, 150 pitch,” says Ian Forth. “Uncannily accurate. Question is would these scores have been the same if England had batted first?” Answer is no. It would have been a great match though.

6.49am GMT

96th over: England 148-8 (Bairstow 29, Broad 0) Bairstow slams Jayant through the covers for four. This cameo from Bairstow, who has scored more in 35 deliveries than Hameed did in 144, is ruining a good stat about England’s slowest run-rates in a completed Test innings.

6.46am GMT

95th over: England 143-8 (Bairstow 24, Broad 0) It’s over; I knew it would end this way.

6.44am GMT

Ansari has gone, bowled by a bit of a grubber from Ashwin. He has had a desperate Test, and it wouldn’t be entirely surprising if that is his last contribution as a Test cricketer.

6.41am GMT

94th over: England 142-7 (Bairstow 23, Ansari 0) Jayant Yadav starts after lunch to Ansari, who is beaten by a beauty that rips past the edge. I don’t think Ansari will last long here. A maiden.

6.25am GMT

It’ll be interesting to see what team England pick for the third Test in Mohali, which begins in a few hours’ time. Buttler for Duckett looks inevitable, and perhaps Woakes for Broad. I’d also bring in Batty for Ansari. Forget all this stuff about left-handers and right-handers; Batty is simply a better bowler.

That said, if they are ever going to play four seamers it’ll be in Mohali, which usually has a bit of pace and bounce, so they could play Woakes and Broad. Assuming Broad is fit, this would be my team.

6.01am GMT

93rd over: England 142-7 (Bairstow 23, Ansari 0) The superb Mohammed Shami will bowl the last over before lunch. Bairstow helps himself to two more boundaries, one to fine leg and one to third man. He’s inverting the V. Anyway, that’s the end of an outstanding session for India, who have all but secured victory: they took five wickets in 33.4 overs. See you in half an hour for the last rites.

5.56am GMT

92nd over: England 134-7 (Bairstow 15, Ansari 0) Bairstow sweeps Jayant for four more before being hit on the glove by a beastly lifter. This is now the minefield we expected, and the next two deliveries keep very low.

“England have played admirably well in this innings but will rue what happened on Day 2,” says Mukundhan Kidambi. “This result was decided then.” Indeed. That and the toss. Given India’s superiority in these conditions, it would have been a helluva game had England won the toss.

5.52am GMT

91st over: England 129-7 (Bairstow 10, Ansari 0) In over 86, Russell the described a peach from Jayant,” says Scott Poynting. “Just as your American OBOer (can’t find the over) predicted the other day : a Jayant Peach!”

If only he’d bowled it to James Anderson.

5.49am GMT

When Shami tries for that magic reverse inswinger, Rashid pings him through midwicket for four to get off the mark. England are going down in a blaze of boundaries. Okay, three boundaries. And they are certainly going down, because Rashid is out. He tried to flick a short ball over the slips and edged it straight through to Saha.

5.45am GMT

90th over: England 125-6 (Bairstow 10, Rashid 0) A vicious delivery from Jayant roars at Bairstow and ends up in the hands of gully. India appeal but I think it just hit him on the thigh. Bairstow responds with consecutive boundaries, a sweep and a hustle through midwicket.

“Good of you to attempt to distract us from this sorry and swift end,” says Ian Copestake. “It was a good effort, Smyth.” We’ll always have Auckland.

5.41am GMT

89th over: England 117-6 (Bairstow 2, Rashid 0) Mohammed Shami is at his best in Asian conditions, which is unusual for a fast bowler. Bairstow repels a reverse-swinging yorker and then drives a single.

5.36am GMT

88th over: England 116-6 (Bairstow 1, Rashid 0) Hello, Rob here. A million apologies for this morning’s loss of transmission. That was an awesome over from Shami to Root, culminating in a reverse inswinger that trapped him plumb LBW. England have battled admirably but defeat is unavoidable. It might not take long now.

5.33am GMT

87th over: England 115-6 (Bairstow 0)

Root goes! There’s a review when Shami pins him in front with the final delivery of the over but it’s taken out of desperation rather than genuine hope. It was a superb over from Shami, who was full, straight, swinging it in and looking for that very dismissal. With it, England are all but gone.

5.26am GMT

86th over: England 115-5 (Root 25, Bairstow 0)

Replays show just how delicious that variation was from Jayant, who followed a couple that went straight on with the flight with one that gripped and turned a decent amount to befuddle Stokes. Jonny Bairstow and Root have a decent old rescue mission on their hands now.

5.24am GMT

Stokes goes! Oh my, that was an absolute peach from the spinner, who somehow breaches what had seemed impenetrable defence from Stokes, who shuffles back and across to smother the ball but loses his off stump. England are officially in trouble.

Some slightly better news: Rob Smyth’s technical difficulties are now sorted so you will be spared any further specifics about my hamstrings.

5.21am GMT

85th over: England 115-4 (Root 25, Stokes 6)

Ah, we’ll have some Mohammed Shami after all as the right-armer returns to take advantage of the new ball. He’s coming over the wicket to Ben Stokes with a very wide slip in place, so there’s a huge gap between the latter and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha. Stokes works a single to deep backward square. Shami is looking very stiff in his first over. Makes me feel better about straining my hamstring getting out of bed on Sunday.

5.16am GMT

84th over: England 114-4 (Root 25, Stokes 5)

Jayant is back to replace Jadeja now, which leaves Shami pacing from side-to-side in the deep, slightly miffed. Joe Root is back in defence for the spinner but the ball keeps worryingly low at certain points. Mike Atherton is waxing lyrical about the “rhythm of his footwork” and from side-on it’s hard to disagree. But...there’s a near miss off the final delivery of the over when he shuffles back again and jams his bat down a fraction late, narrowly avoiding LBW.

5.12am GMT

83rd over: England 114-4 (Root 25, Stokes 5)

I say no seam, but Shami is doing some enthusiastic warm-ups to let his skipper know that he’s ready and willing. Every Ashwin delivery to Ben Stokes in this over is greeted with orgiastic screams from the Indian cordon, but it’s all very solid stuff from the batsman and the cries of two slips and a silly point never distract him from his task.

5.10am GMT

82nd over: England 112-4 (Root 25, Stokes 3)

No seam for the home side as Ravi Jadeja pairs with Ashwin for this early period with the new ball. Jadeja is trying to hurry Root through this over but with men circled around him waiting for an edge, the Yorkshireman is having none of it and stops a while to clear something from his eye. Maiden for Jadeja.

5.07am GMT

81st over: England 112-4 (Root 25, Stokes 3)

So you’ve probably figured it out by now, but Ben Duckett perished for a duck, and did so to a rather injudicious sweep off Ravi Ashwin. The other dismissed batsman is Moeen Ali, who sent an inside edge to leg slip to depart for 2 from the bowling of Jadeja. So far, so bad for England. The home side now take the new ball and it’s Ashwin who grabs it, spinning it away from Ben Stokes, who is off the mark but will have watched Ashwin tying his partner Joe Root in knots. Stokes finishes the over by nudging two to fine leg.

5.02am GMT

Apologies for this break in transmission

Hello cricket fans. Russell Jackson here with the update you’ve probably been sweating on for an hour. No? OK. So sorry about that, firstly. We’ve experienced some grave technical difficulties and I apologise for both those and the fact I’m not Rob Smyth.

5.24pm GMT

Rob will be along shortly. In the meantime, here’s Vic Marks on the dramatic conclusion to day four:

The last ball of the day swung the pendulum a long way. Alastair Cook, after 59 overs of diligent self-denial, pushed across the line against Ravindra Jadeja and was lbw for 54. Thus a brilliant, passive response to the targets of batting for five sessions or scoring 405 runs – both of which would be historic – was badly diminished.

Until then England, who have battled so hard since that self-destructive session on the second evening, had caused considerable headaches for Virat Kohli and his men. At the close of another gripping day of Test cricket India needed eight more wickets for victory; England required a much less likely 319 runs to win.

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Published on November 20, 2016 23:07
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