England on the brink in Fifth Test
MARCUS TRESCOTHICK insisted England are not “dead and buried” just yet despite another batting collapse.
With the Test series in India already lost, England are searching for a consolation win and Zak Crawley made a spirited 79 but the tourists unravelled from 175-3 to 218 all out.
Kuldeep Yadav collected 5-72 while Ravichandran Ashwin marked his 100th Test with figures of 4-51 as all 10 England wickets fell to spin in chilly conditions before India closed on 135-1.
The in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal muscled three sixes in his 57 off 58 balls while Rohit Sharma went to stumps on day one of the fifth and final Test on 52 not out to leave India just 83 runs behind.
“It’s been a disappointing
day,” England assistant Trescothick said. “We were hoping for a lot more with winning the toss. We’re a bit behind the game, it’s not quite the score we wanted.
“We got to lunch quite nicely, had a bit of luck and managed to get to that point where we were OK and the afternoon was where it all changed.”
While the dismissals of Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and Ben Stokes within eight balls was the turning point as England dramatically crumbled, Ollie Pope had another forgettable outing.
In the final over before lunch, Pope rashly charged at Kuldeep but seemingly failed to pick the left-arm wrist-spinner’s googly and was stumped for 11.
Trescothick added: “The more we knock down and put pressure on people, the challenges will come down the line.
“He’s definitely improving, as are many other players in our team.”