India spinners once again held centre stage as the hosts produced a clinical performance to cruise to a comfortable eight-wicket victory on the fourth day of the third cricket Test at Mohali and thereby take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
The trio of Ravichandran Ashwin (3/81), Ravindra Jadeja (2/62) and Jayant Yadav (2/21) shared bulk of the spoils to dismiss the visitors for 236 in their second innings. Comeback man Parthiv Patel then made a mockery of the target of 103 runs, smashing his way to an unbeaten 67 off 53 balls studded with 11 fours and a six. Fittingly he finished the match with a boundary over extra cover in company of Virat Kohli.
Parthiv and Cheteshwar Pujara (25) added 81 runs in only 15.2 overs in what turned out to be an easy chase completed in 20.2 overs. Parthiv was in a mood to display his ‘T20 skills’ as he took on the pacers and spinners alike with minimum fuss. The 50 came off 39 balls with eight boundaries and a six. His prowess at the top of the order will give Kohli and coach Anil Kumble another option for opening slot.
Earlier, credit should be given to young Haseeb Hameed for his gritty unbeaten 59 off 156 balls coming in at No 8 due to a finger injury that helped England cross 200-run mark. He hit six fours and a six off Ashwin to complete his second Test half-century. It was because of the teenager that India had to chase a 100 plus target. It was a match where England were outbatted and outbowled by an Indian side that has been plagued by injuries. But Ashwin as usual put up a lion-hearted performance once again scoring a 72 and bagging four wickets. Equally creditable was the all-round effort of the other two specialist spinners - Jadeja (90 run and 4 wickets) and Jayant (55 runs and 4 wickets).
Having polished off the top-order save Joe Root, the question on fourth day was not how but when will India finish the match. The only wicket that would have seriously bothered them was that of Joe Root. But post Root, Hameed did put up a fight but it was always for a losing cause. Root, who was standing between India and victory, was dismissed for 78 by Jadeja (2/39 in 23 overs), who got one to turn away sharply as the edge was taken by an alert Ajinkya Rahane, who reacted quickly to stretch his right hand. Root played 179 balls hitting six fours in the process.
Root got an able ally in young Hameed as the duo added 45 runs in 119 balls for the seventh wicket stand. It was this pair that erased the 134 run deficit. Once Jadeja removed the gutsy Root minutes before lunch, the writing was there on the wall. But Hameed delayed the inevitable and showed that he is one for the future with correct technique and a temperament to match with it.
With this victory, India stretched its unbeaten streak in tests to 17 at home- their second best. India lost the early wicket of Murali Vijay and then of Cheteshwar Pujara 25 away, but Patel and Virat Kohli knocked off the remaining runs. Parthiv followed his plucky 42 from the first innings with his 5th half-century in Tests and made a serious case in point to be considered for the next Test.
First ball he faced, Parthiv sent it crashing towards the point boundary. Pujara declared his intention by hitting consecutive fours off James Anderson, but with India 15 away, he was out caught at short fine-leg, opting for a deft paddle. Fittingly, Parthiv finished the game with a cut off Adil Rashid for four.
England was sent packing for 236 soon after India took the second new ball with Mohammed Shami producing a fiery spell in which he snuffed out two wickets in three balls. Hameed, batting with an injured finger, produced a gutsy half-century and remained not out on 58, an effort that may amount to nothing more than a consolation prize since.
Hameed played a typical ball-sapping innings. With England having lost overnight batsman Gareth Batty and then Jos Buttler, Root took responsibility of scoring, while Hameed was happy seeing off the spin. The comfort with which he batted raised concerns over his decision of not opening the innings but that's always debatable.
India were hard to keep quiet. Second over of the day, Ravindra Jadeja had Batty out leg before. Buttler walked in and hit three fours. The message was clear, that England wanted to get moving and not just eat up balls. But they always ran the risk of losing wickets and that is exactly what happened when an ambitious heave by Buttler saw him find the fielder at long-on.
Root carried his fine overnight form and did the right thing by not getting bogged down, and instead scored runs. He seemed to be the only one with proper understanding of how the surface was behaving. Just a handful of balls turned and despite being pushed on the backfoot by Jadeja's darts, Root managed a way to keep the scoreboard moving. He reached his 50 with a clip off his pads and put England in the lead with a cover drive off Ashwin. India pounced on the only error he committed. Root pushed at a ball away from his body and it led to his dismissal.
Woakes was a lesson in batting for the rest of the England batsmen. He rocked onto the backfoot and wasn't afraid to play shots against spin. He paddle swept Jadeja and crunched Ashwin through the covers for a couple of stunning shots. He and Hameed put up a valiant effort with a 45-run stand for the 10th wicket before Shami made inroads. In the first innings England made 283 runs and in the second they made 236 runs against India's first innings score of 417 runs.
On Sunday, Ashwin and Jadeja performed yet another rescue act. India were teetering at 204-6, having lost Kohli (62) who edged one behind off Ben Stokes. There was apprehension that India might get bowled out cheaply and give England a handy 40-50 run lead, which would have been massive considering Kohli & Co. would be batting last on a track that has just started to turn.
Ashwin (unbeaten 57), who has scored more than 500 runs in Tests in 2016 including two centuries, combined with Jadeja (unbeaten 31) in an unbroken 67-run stand as India ended Day 2 on 271-6, 12 runs adrift of the English first innings total.
