England’s batsmen flop once again as India take charge of fourth Test
England’s batsmen flopped again after being bowled out for a below-par 205 on Day 1 of the fourth and final Test against India in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
A sixth consecutive sub-200 total looked on the cards for the tourists after they slumped to 30-3 in the morning session.
Ben Stokes (55) and Dan Lawrence (46) propped them up but England might regret not making the most of the perfect batting conditions at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
India, who are 2-1 up in the series, were 24-1 at stumps and will be confident against a spin-heavy England attack with James Anderson as the lone frontline seamer, while Stokes battles an upset stomach.
The tourists recalled off-spinner Dom Bess while leaving out quicks Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer, the latter due to ongoing concerns with a shoulder injury.
“We’ll look back on that and be disappointed by some of the batting, Stokes said afterwards. “We’re more than capable of scoring more than 300 on a wicket like that out here, it’s frustrating.
“We sit down as a group and say we’ll try to put it [the previous game] behind us but that’s easier said than done. I know, overall, it’s a much better wicket than the last one we played on so we’re just disappointed not to still be batting.
“I feel very frustrated that I spent two-and-a-half hours trying to avoid getting out to a straight ball then I ended up getting out to a straight ball.”
When asked why England went with such a bowler-light line-up, with Lawrence in as a specialist batsman at No 7, Stokes added: “If you look at the scorecard from the last Test match [when England managed just 193 runs in two innings] it will probably give you all the answers that you need.”
Stokes also sought to suck any drama out of an early exchange of words with home captain Virat Kohli. “It’s two professionals showing they care about the sport that they love,” he said.
“A lot gets said these days when two guys seem to come to words out in the middle. There was nothing untoward, just two blokes who care about what they do.” Seamer Mohammed Siraj had his own take, telling reporters: “He [Stokes] abused me and I told Virat, who handled it. It’s important to have the backing of your captain.”
Axar Patel was the wrecker-in-chief in the last Test match, which India won in two days, and the left-arm spinner returned to haunt England again after Joe Root elected to bat.
Dom Sibley made two before he inside-edged a delivery onto his stumps and, in Patel’s next over, Zak Crawley woefully chipped the ball to mid-off and depart for nine.
Siraj, replacing Jasprit Bumrah in the squad, struck the biggest blow when he trapped England skipper Root leg before wicket for five.
Jonny Bairstow looked determined to make amends having scored a pair of ducks in the third Test but Siraj trapped him lbw soon after lunch for 28. Stokes could not be denied his 24th Test fifty, though. The all-rounder hit Ravichandran Ashwin (3-47) and Washington Sundar for sixes and then reverse-swept Patel (4-68) to bring up his half-century.
Off-spinner Sundar dismissed Stokes lbw with a sliding delivery to cut short his stay. Lawrence missed his fifty after charging down the track and missing the ball from Patel to be stumped.
Indian spinners claimed eight of the 10 English wickets on a pitch which looked quite different from the one used for the last Test in which 30 wickets fell in five sessions.
Anderson gave England a strong start with the ball by dismissing Shubman Gill lbw for a duck with his third delivery.
“It was a batting wicket, and it was coming onto the bat nicely, so we planned to bowl patiently and keep bowling at the same spot,” Siraj said.
India need only a draw to secure their place in the June final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand.
We’ll look back on that and be disappointed by the batting. We’re more than capable of scoring 300 on a wicket like that BEN STOKES
England all-rounder