Hyderabad: England made a comeback on the uneven pitch managing to reach a score of 89 for one by lunchtime on the third day of the first Test against India. After Indias total of 436 runs in their innings Ben Duckett (38 batting) and Ollie Pope (16 batting) took charge for England aiming to reduce the significant deficit of 190 runs. As it stands now England is still trailing by 101 runs.
Indias first innings came to an end on the third day lasting only 54 minutes. Despite Ravindra Jadejas knock of 87 and Axar Patels contribution of 44 runs the hosts could only add another 15 runs to their overnight score of 421 for seven.
Knowing they faced a task England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley (31) handled the situation with calmness using sweep shots and reverse sweeps as strategies to counter the Indian spinners. Crawley even brought some excitement to the England camp by hitting Axar for a six over the sightscreen. During this period Axar gave away than seven runs per over while Ashwin conceded over five.
However India soon found success when Ashwin approached from around the wicket and created an angle across Crawley. The right hander attempted a shot but ended up giving an easy catch, to Rohit Sharma at first slip.
Today Indias first batting turn came to a quick end with Jadeja being dismissed leg before wicket by Joe Root narrowly missing out on reaching his much desired fourth Test century. Despite Jadejas decision to challenge the umpires call through a review the decision remained in favor of the on field umpire. In the next delivery Root claimed Jasprit Bumrahs wicket and Rehan Ahmed swiftly cleaned up Axar Patel as well resulting in a rapid conclusion to Indias batting innings, without any additional runs being scored.
