Veteran India Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has the wicket of England can opener Ben Duckett once again in the fifth and final test of the ongoing series. Duckett, in his ultra-aggressive approach, wanted to drag Ashwin’s delivery for a six on the way out, but the left-hander missed the full length and was clean off.
This will probably be the 4th or 5th time that Ben Duckett has given his wicket to Ravichandran Ashwin, who is now edging closer to another 5-wicket haul. Ashwin had registered a five in the 4th Test at Ranchi where India claimed their 17th consecutive red-ball series win at home by 5 wickets.
Ravichandran Ashwin claims two more after Duckett’s dismissal
After Ben Duckett was dismissed for 2 runs, Ravichandran Ashwin removed his partner Zak Crawley for a duck moments later with a catch at backward short leg from Sarfaraz Khan. 4 overs later, Ollie Pope came out while playing a quick shot that took the lead and fell into the hands of Yashasvi Jaiswal.
England have already been reduced to 3 wickets before scoring 100 runs and now the onus is on Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow to at least ensure they reduce the run to some extent. Bairstow, who is playing his 100th Test match in Dharamshala, has failed to get going in the 5-match series.
Bairstow’s out of form phase from the middle order is one of the key reasons why England have performed so poorly in the series. The 34-year-old has not even been able to touch the 40-run mark and the highest score by him was 38 in the previous Test match. But from the time he started batting today, Bairstow has been aggressively chasing the Indian bowlers, especially Ravichandran Ashwin.
, ! 😎 Ashwin’s magic is in full swing. ✨ #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #BowlBowled #INVENGE #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/PZmf0yl9kY
-JioCinema (@JioCinema) March 9, 2024
Jonny Bairstow has already hit 3 fours and 3 sixes and will now look to build on the start he had. Joe Root, on the other hand, will also hope to continue the flow of runs that he had in the fourth Test. Root scored a hard-fought 122* in Ranchi, but his efforts were not enough to give England victory.
But in the final Test match, at least Root should play like he has done in his illustrious career. However, the tension has increased further for England as Kuldeep Yadav, who registered a 5-wicket haul in the first innings, got his first wicket of the third innings. Jonny Bairstow once again gave away his wicket cheaply by not reading the ball bowled by Kuldeep. The wicket fell just after Shubman Gill and Bairstow exchanged a few words during the break.
Can Ravichandran Ashwin claim a 10-wicket haul in Dharamshala?
As pressure mounts on England, Ravichandran Ashwin should look to register his ninth 10-wicket haul in an innings in Dharamshala. Australia’s Nathan Lyon had recently done the same during the first Test against New Zealand last week.
Ravichandran Ashwin will need another 4 wickets as he already has 6 to his name in this match. And with the kind of shape he’s in, the non-spinner can accomplish the feat.