India take early control of fifth Test as England batters capitulate again

India took a firm grip on the fifth and final Test match after dominating England on Day 1 at the HPCA Stadiumin Dharamsala on Thursday.

After winning the toss and deciding to bat, England started well before suffering what has become an all-too familiar collapse in a series where India have already secured an unassailable 3-1 lead.

Ben Stokes' side looked set for a decent first-innings total before capitulating from 175-3 to 218 all out as India's spinners once again wreaked havoc, with Kuldeep Yadav (5-72) and Ravichandran Ashwin (4-51) taking nine wickets between them. The tourists lost their last eight wickets for 81 runs and at one stage fell to a disastrous 5-8 in 37 deliveries.

Only opener Zak Crawley (79) reached his half-century while Joe Root (26), Jonny Bairstow (29) and Ben Stokes (nought) were all out in a 12-ball spell without a single run being added.

Any hopes that England might fight back with the ball were blown away by Indian openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal who blazed their way to a century partnership with runs coming at more than five an over.

Jaiswal was eventually stumped off Shoaib Bashir for 57, but captain Rohit remained unbeaten on 52 at the close alongside Shubman Gill (22 not out) with India just 83 behind England with nine first innings wickets left.

“Yeah, a challenging day,” said England batting coach Marcus Trescothick on TNT Sports. “We had some good moments – we batted well up until lunch when the ball was swinging around and nipped around more than we expected it to.

I. C. Y. M. I!

1⃣ Over

2⃣ Wickets

2⃣ Brilliant Catches

R Ashwin