In the pivotal third of five Test matches, India was able to defeat England by a record 434 runs to take a 2-1 lead at Rajkot. India set England a massive second innings target of 557 to win the match but the English team came well short, only scoring 122.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal scored an unbeaten double century in the Indian second innings, finishing with 214 off just 236 balls. The youngster had 12 sixes in his total to go along with 14 fours. Shubman Gill stayed at the crease with Jaiswal, scoring 91 but fell short of his hundred due to a messy run out.
It should be noted that Jaiswal started having trouble with his back after scoring his century. He called for a physio and tried to play an over but ended up walking off. At the time of leaving the crease he was 104 off 133 balls, with nine fours and five sixes. He would later return to turn the innings on its head and score another 110 runs and completely take the match away from England.
In the end, India declared at 430/4 with plenty of time left to bowl at the English batting line up. There wasn’t much to speak of in terms of bowling figures for England, as James Anderson and Mark Wood went wicketless on the slow pitch.
The Indian first innings had captain Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja as the heroes, both scoring hundreds. India ended up with 445 runs in total after handy innings by Sarfaraz Khan and keeper Dhruv Jurel down the order.
Mark Wood was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets for 114 runs while Rehan Hamed chipped in with a couple wickets for 85 runs.
The English first innings was held together by a terrific innings of 153 from Ben Duckett. Unfortunately there wasn’t much else to speak of in terms of batting as the team was all out for 319.
Mohammed Siraj claimed four wickets while Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja took a couple each. Overall, England were only able to bat 71 overs, leaving loads of time for India to set a massive total to chase.
After the brilliant innings by Jaiswal, England didn’t have much fight in their second go at bat. The top order fell fast and England found themselves at 6-50 before they knew it. Mark Wood and Tom Hartley put up a little resistance at the end but ultimately England were bowled out for a measly 122.
Ravindra Jadeja was the star with the ball, ending with 5 wickets for just 41 runs. Despite Jaiwal’s top innings of 214, Jadeja was named Man of the Match for his great bowling spell in the second innings and his 131 when batting in the first.
This was India’s biggest ever win in Test cricket in runs, winning by a massive 434. This should be a huge confidence boost going into the last two matches of the series.
Test #4: India Vs England in Ranchi
The series will be moving to Ranchi for the fourth Test match, where India will look to close out England. The match will begin at 9:30 IST on Friday, the 23rd of February.
Based on current form, Jaiswal will be the big wicket for England after scoring a double century in consecutive test matches. Rohit Sharma also found some form in the last match and will be considered a danger man for England.
James Anderson had a match to forget in Rajkot, only managing to take the one wicket in his 38 overs. The Ranchi pitch may suit him a little more however with some pace on the ball available to bowlers.
The middle order has been a big concern for England with Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes failing to capitalize on starts. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett have had a good series, each scoring a century in the past two tests.
While India will go into the match as big favourites, England have shown they won’t go down without a fight. Expect a close match that should come down to the final innings.
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