Dhruv Jurel’s defensive chef-d'oeuvre found a perfect match in the destructive symphony of spin by fifer-man Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav as India seized decisive control of the fourth Test against England at the end of a dramatic third day in Ranchi on Sunday. (Day 3 Highlights | More Cricket News)
India walked off at the stumps, having chiselled off 40 ꦦruns from the 192-run targe⛦t without losing a wicket.
Rohit Sharma (24 batting) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (16 batting) would be confident o🎶f the team must♈ering the remaining 152 runs without much theatre.
Hꦦowever, it was Jurel who started India’s resistive movement with a defiant 90 that came in 14💝9 balls and 211 minutes. It carried the hosts to 307 in their first innings from the overnight 219 for seven.
In their second essay, England just did not have any answers to the questions posed by Ashwin (5/51), his 35th five-wicket haul in Tests, and Kuldeep Yadav (4/22), getting bowled out for a meagre 145.
Opener Zak Crawley (60) was ꦓthe lone post of fight.
It would have been worse for England without that Crawley fifty before 🍨his innings was halted by K⭕uldeep.
Ravindra Jadeja bagged a solitary wicket ꩲbut it was the 🌸key wicket of Jonny Bairstow.
In fact, Crawley was the only 😼English batter to go past 30 as they lost t🎉heir last seven wickets for just 35 runs with Ashwin and Jadeja weaving their magic.
Intro♎duced late, the left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep struck in his third over when he cleaned up Crawley with a gem of a delivery that skidded through, unsettling the middle stump.
Crawley was looking in an ominous mood and tore into the Indian attack aga🐈inst the run of play to stretch their overall lead past 150 as Rohit persisted with Ashwin and Jadeja in the second session.
But Kuldeep breathed fire into the attack as he got drift and was at his deceptive be🥂st.
Having survived through an umpire's call, England skipper Ben Stokes⛎ was castled by Kuldeep with the ball staying low.
Bairstow looked in firm𝔍 control in his 42-ball 30 (3x4) but fell in the first ball after tea when Jadeja exploited the cracks on the pitch to turn i💃t away and the batter drove it straight to short cover.
Kuldeep then dismissed Tom Hartley and Ollie Robinson in four balls, before Ashwin raced to his fifth wicket as stumper Dhruv Jurel took a brilliant reflex 🐓catch to oust James Anderson.
In the process, Ashwin ꧑also became the highest wicket-taker at home for India. He now has 354 wickets from 59 Tests at home, overtaking Anil Kumble’s tally of 350 from 63 matches.
'Jurel' in the crown
But Jur🍷el’s innings might just have ended India’s search for a wicketkeeper batter in Tests in the absence of recupera﷽ting Rishabh Pant.
The 23-year-old from Agra was not only terrific with his glovesmanship but exhibited oodles of maturity during that determined fifty as India mounted an ﷽incredible fightback, trimming England's first-innings lead to a mere 46 runs.
After reaching his maiden fifty in 96 balls, the Rajasthan Royꦅals' wicketkeeper-batsman shifted gears, taking on English spinners Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley.
Jurel hurried for a single off Hartley to bring up his fifty in an entertaining 40-run stand off just 75 balls for the n♛inth wicket with Akash Deep (9).
But Hartley denied﷽ him a hundredꦍ with a quicker delivery that stayed low.
Young England off-spinner Bashir completed his maiden Test five-wicket haul, trapping♓ Akash to finish with figures of 5 for 119 in only ꦡhis second Test.
Jurel and Kuldeep's 76-run partnership for the eighth wicket also rescued Indi🐼a from a precarious position when they were reduced to 177 for seven o🃏n the second day.
Under over♔cast conditions in the morning session, the overnight duo of Jurel and Kuldeep faced a 134-run deficit.
Kuldeep showcased superb application on a pitch with variable bounce, playing 131 balls with immaculate defence and ef🥀fective strike rotation.
Kuldeep's determined innings ended when an Anderson delivery that stayed low took a bottom edge and disturbed the tim🐻ber.
