[themaclad]

180 episodes of Frasier in the next three days

[themaclad]

India 145 (Rohit 66, Root 5-8) and 49 for 0 (Rohit 25*) beat England 112 (Crawley 53, Patel 6-38) and 81 (Patel 5-32) by 10 wickets

Manic, manic, manic. The speed of the final act of the third Test was, on the one hand, a gross misrepresentation of the extraordinary mayhem that had preceded it. As Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill flogged a dispirited and under-resourced England spin attack to all corners, picking off a paltry target of 49 in 7.4 overs and with ten wickets in hand, it might have appeared to any latecomers that India's dominance in home-spun conditions had been entirely, and predictably, unchallenged.


But on the other hand, that final flurry was a perfectly crazy denouement to a match that had been accelerating all the way through like a pair of brawlers tumbling down a flight of stairs - a contest wrapped up, with a vast six over wide long-on from Rohit, only minutes after tea on the second day of action, making the shortest completed Test match since 1935, after 17 wickets had tumbled in the first two sessions of the day, and 30 in the first five all told.

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Rainford -Brent resting players for the T20 World Cup is the right thing to do


Seriously ?

[themaclad]

Wicket being prepared for the fourth test

[themaclad]

India 24 for 1 trail England 205 (Stokes 55, Lawrence 46, Patel 4-68) by 181 runs

England fought the conditions, a well-tuned India attack, and the internal momentum of their own fading batting fortunes to try and stay in contention on the first day of the fourth Test in Ahmedabad. The best that could be said of England's total of 205 was that it was more than they had achieved across two innings on the same ground last week; the worst, that there is no team more adept than India at making such hard graft look inadequate.

Having won the toss and chosen to bat, there was no doubt that England had left runs on the table. Only Ben Stokes managed to fashion a half-century, and the highest partnership of the innings was 48. Since piling up 578 in benign conditions at the outset of the series in Chennai, England's batsmen have yet to produce another fifty stand.

Arguably things could have been worse. With Axar Patel continuing his fine debut series by claiming four more wickets - taking his tally to 22 at 10.81 - and Joe Root falling cheaply to the bristling Mohammed Siraj early in the day, England's middle and lower order, strengthened by the presence of the recalled Dan Lawrence at No. 7, staved off complete collapse. James Anderson then struck with his third ball, Shubman Gill trapped lbw, to ensure that India had to plot a watchful course through to the close.

England had drastically altered the balance of their side, picking an extra batsman and bringing back Dom Bess to support Anderson and Jack Leach - though the evidence of the first part of the day was that seam would play a greater part than it did in the day-night Test, as Siraj in particular probed away. Stokes took the new ball, for the first time in his Test career, before giving way to Leach, but Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara experienced few alarms as the shadows lengthened.

Anderson's immediate intervention during a spell of 5-5-0-1, and the fact that they managed to creep past 200 for the first time in six innings, perhaps gave England a little to feel encouraged about after heavy defeats in the previous two Tests. Again there were signs of turn on day one, though fewer puffs of dust than at Chepauk and without the lacquer-ish all sorts that made the pink ball so hard to combat.

For the third time in four Tests, Root won first use of the surface, but despite positive talk about looking to find a way to score in these conditions, England were quickly in trouble as they slipped to 30 for 3. Patel's mesmeric hold could not be broken, as he removed Dom Sibley with his second delivery after coming on in the sixth over - forewarned was not forearmed against Patel's arm ball, Sibley playing for turn only to be bowled off his inside edge.

It was two in two overs when Zak Crawley, who had just stroked four through mid-off, tried to come down once again but did not get to the pitch, lofting tamely to mid-off; Crawley has now been dismissed by the left-arm spin of Patel and Lasith Embuldeniya seven times out of seven on England's tours of India and Sri Lanka.

When the bustling Siraj jagged one back to rap Root on the back pad straight after the drinks break, England's innings was threatening to go into another tailspin. But Jonny Bairstow overcame a jittery start, carving six fours before the lunch break as he and Stokes repelled all borders for a period. Stokes had faced 24 balls by the time R Ashwin was introduced to the attack, and he promptly pumped his 26th over long-off to signal that he would not go meekly.

With Virat Kohli happy to play a waiting game, rotating his bowlers regularly, it was again Siraj who provided the breakthrough shortly after lunch, winning an lbw decision against Bairstow that returned a verdict of umpire's call on DRS. But Stokes had seemingly discovered his groove, seeing off his nemesis - of Ashwin's initial eight-over spell, Stokes faced 41 balls (and soaked up 38 dots) - before he began to open up, slog-sweeping Washington Sundar for six, and then going to his fifty by reversing Patel for four.

England, however, were left with a sense of what might have been. Stokes, Ollie Pope and Lawrence all showed flashes of what was needed to succeed, but India's quality and depth presents an unrelenting challenge. Sundar found the right line with his offspin to befuddle Stokes, beaten by another non-turner to be lbw, and Ashwin removed Pope for the third innings in a row, Gill reacting smartly to an inside edge that went through the batsman's legs before deflecting up off the back pad flap.

Ben Foakes was lured into a furtive prod to slip by Ashwin, and although Lawrence struck several pleasing boundaries in reaching 46, he became Patel's third victim after unsuccessfully giving the bowler the charge. With Bess trapped lbw in the same over, it required Leach and Anderson to pilfer enough runs for the last wicket to breach 200. Australia, watching on hopeful of an England win to edge out India for a spot in the World Test Championship final, won't be booking their charter flight just yet.

Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick

[themaclad]

India 294 for 7 (Pant 101, Sundar 60*, Anderson 3-40) lead England 205 by 89 runs

A day of two halves in Ahmedabad saw India seize control of the fourth Test, as an innings of two halves from Rishabh Pant cut England down to size. Pant's maiden hundred on home soil was a masterpiece of adapting his game to the demands of conditions and match situation, and by the time he had flamed out, English hopes of hanging in the game had largely gone up in smoke.

Seeking the sort of first-innings runs that would define the contest, India had stuttered and stumbled to 146 for 6 during the afternoon session, as England succeeded in their attempts to control the run rate while making regular incisions. Ben Stokes, who hurled himself through 20 overs in the day for the wickets of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, and James Anderson set the tone from the outset as Joe Root shuffled his hand adroitly in defence of his side's mediocre efforts with the bat.

But the struggles of Dom Bess left England's four-man attack stretched, as a century stand between Pant and Washington Sundar wrested back control. Initially, runs came in circumspect fashion as India sought to rebuild, and had Bess been granted an lbw decision when Pant had 35 - umpire Nitin Menon's not-out call was upheld by the narrowest of margins on DRS - things could have taken a wholly different course. As it was, Pant took the game into his own hands.

A watchful half-century from 82 balls provided the kindling for Pant to ignite against a toiling opposition late in the day. Sparks flew and runs flowed, England's plans to bowl dry blown clean out of the water on a parched late Gujarati afternoon, as Pant raced on to his hundred in the space of another 33 deliveries. He fell moments later, but Sundar carried on the good work until the close to leave India in sight of 300 and a potentially decisive lead.

For a while, with India six down and the game in the balance, it was tempting to wonder how much Kohli really did care about the World Test Championship final. Defeat here would cost India their spot, and the captain was one of three wickets to fall - for his second duck of the series - during a morning session which yielded just 56 runs. The dismissal of Rohit one short of fifty then left India in need of some lower-order gumption to keep England at bay.

But on a pitch that has been tougher to master than had initially seemed apparent, Pant soared above the competition. If the surface was two-paced, so was Pant's innings. His control of the situation was evident in the way he kicked up through the gears around the arrival of the new ball - a juncture that might have brought England some relief, with Root increasingly reluctant to turn to Bess' offspin - as back-to-back boundaries off Stokes put India level on the scoreboard.

Further audacity was to come. Anderson, new ball in hand, was greeted by being pumped for fours through mid-off and cover, before the sucker punch: an insouciant reverse-scoop over the slips that even forced a wry grimace from England's 38-year-old attack leader. His hundred was reached soon after with a slog-swept six off Root, to the delight of a vocal Motera crowd; after steadfastly laying the foundations, this was back to seat-of-the-Pant batting as advertised.

Although Anderson eventually scragged the youngster for 101, caught hammering a pull to midwicket, the scales had shifted. Sundar brought up his third Test fifty with a back-foot flay through the off side that typified his own increasingly assured innings, and 141 runs bled through the final session to leave England facing a battle for survival in the third innings.

Anderson's figures told a story in themselves. He began the day having not conceded a run, and had figures of 17-11-19-2 before the late carnage; of the seven boundaries he conceded, five came via Pant's bat. But Anderson and Stokes had to share a heavy workload, as Bess failed to hit his lengths once again, all too often contributing to releasing the pressure that England had striven to build up. Even when Bess did belatedly win an lbw decision against Sundar in the penultimate over of the day, it was overturned on review.

England's hopes of limiting India to a score somewhere in the region of 200 had initially been lifted after a disciplined morning session. Jack Leach struck first, sliding a delivery into Cheteshwar Pujara's front pad fractionally before his bat came through in defence, before Kohli was extracted via a Stokes bouncer and a feathered edge to the keeper.

Anderson accounted for Ajinkya Rahane with the final ball before lunch and although Rohit again looked in ominous touch, a marginal lbw decision buoyed Stokes and England further. When R Ashwin chipped tamely to midwicket for Leach's second wicket, the hosts seemed to be on the ropes, only for Pant's innings and his mature partnership with Sundar to give them control of the ring.

Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick

[themaclad]

PITIFUL

India 365 (Pant 101, Sundar 96, Stokes 4-89) beat England 205 (Stokes 55, Patel 4-68) and 135 (Lawrence 50, Ashwin 5-47, Patel 5-48) by an innings and 25 runs

India wrapped up a convincing innings victory to seal a 3-1 series result and a spot in the World Test Championship final, after England collapsed against spin for the final time on tour. Although Washington Sundar was left high and dry four runs short of a maiden Test hundred, Axar Patel hounded the visitors for his fourth five-for of an immensely impressive debut series to help confirm the inevitable midway through the evening session on day three.

If the morning had dawned amid debate over whether England could limit India's lead and then set some sort of target in the fourth innings, events quickly spiralled out of their control. Sundar had batted impressively in the slipstream of Rishabh Pant on the second day to revive India from trouble at 146 for 6, and he seemed destined to become a Test centurion at the age of 21, only to run out of partners in anticlimactic fashion as the last three wickets fell for no runs in five balls.

He was applauded from the field by team-mates and fans nevertheless, and although England's openers managed to survive a three-over spell before the lunch break, India soon took the game by the throat. Six wickets tumbled during an afternoon session in which England skittered and scraped to 65 for 6, and only a doughty fifty from Dan Lawrence prevented India from putting their feet up much earlier.

Having poked the bear by winning the first Test, England were on the end of a third successive mauling. Joe Root had suggested that swindling their way to 2-2 in Ahmedabad would represent an "phenomenal" result for his side, given India's home record over the last decade is one of almost unbroken dominance, but England once again paid a heavy price for underperforming with the bat in conditions that were far less demanding than those encountered in the second and third Tests.

Sundar, batting at No. 8 in only his fourth Test, emphasised the gulf. There was barely a false shot as he went about compiling a four-hour innings that looked set to end with his bat raised to the cavernous Motera stands; even without the garland, his 96 was a higher score than any England batsman barring Root managed in the entire series.

His efforts extended India's lead from 89 overnight to a daunting 160, and it soon became clear that England did not have the stomach for one last fight. R Ashwin scalped two wickets in his opening over and four of the top five were dismissed in single figures as panic set in once again. Lawrence provided a glimmer as England attempted to at least make India bat again, but he was last man out after notching a second Test fifty, as Ashwin completed a five-wicket haul of his own.

Overall, Ashwin and Patel claimed 59 wickets between them, at averages of 14.71 and 10.59 respectively, as English uncertainties on even vaguely spin-friendly surfaces were ruthlessly exploited.

The first 90 minutes of play had been conspicuously lacking in drama, as Sundar and Patel calmly extended their eighth-wicket stand to 106. Both made Test-best scores against a toiling England attack but, with Sundar's milestone almost in touching distance, the innings suddenly imploded.

It took a run-out to break the partnership, as Patel impetuously left his crease for a non-existent single to mid-on. His dive was in vain, and both players averted their eyes - perhaps sensing what might be to come. Ben Stokes immediately dispatched Ishant Sharma lbw and then three balls later castled Mohammed Siraj, leaving Sundar waiting for his moment.


In a hole after winning the toss and cobbling together just 205, England swiftly returned to digging. Zak Crawley completed a difficult first tour of Asia by edging Ashwin to slip - the first time he had not been dismissed by left-arm spin across four Tests in Sri Lanka and India - and Jonny Bairstow then turned his first ball straight to leg slip for a third duck in four innings. Dom Sibley was a touch unfortunate to caught when his powerful sweep ricoheted off the pads of short leg, but Stokes fell tamely, paddling Patel to leg slip.

Ollie Pope led a skittish existence before being stumped - more fine glovework from Pant, as he clasped the ball by his chin - and Root was caught on the crease to give Ashwin a third. Lawrence and Ben Foakes resisted for a while, but when the latter poked at Patel with the stand having reached 44, it ensured England would go through seven successive innings since amassing 578 in Chennai without managing a fifty partnership.

The curtain fell soon after, Patel and Ashwin rounding up the tail to confirm India's date at Lord's (or wherever the WTC final ends up being played). Denying Australia a backdoor route to the decider would have to suffice as consolation for England.

Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick

[Lord Snooty]

PITIFUL

Agreed.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

It's been widely applauded by pundits, but the evidence is now overwhelming that this player rotation policy has been a total disaster in the last three Tests.

[Lord Snooty]

Aye but I understand why they've done it. And I suppose we would've lost the series anyway picking our strongest XI for each match.
Take away Root's runs from the first test, we might have lost that one as well.

[themaclad]

England win pub match shock

First Twenty20, Ahmedabad
India 124-7 (20 overs): Iyer 67 (48); Archer 3-23
England 130-2 (15.3 overs): Roy 49 (32)
England won by eight wickets
Scorecard
A magnificent bowling performance set England on the way to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory over India in the first Twenty20 in Ahmedabad.

Jofra Archer's 3-23 spearheaded a relentless showing from the pace bowlers, while leg-spinner Adil Rashid opened the bowling and dismissed home captain Virat Kohli for a duck.

Only Shreyas Iyer, with 67 from 48 balls, got to grips with the England attack and the two-paced pitche as India struggled to 124-7.

England sauntered in the chase, Jason Roy crashing 49 from 32 deliveries to help the tourists to their target with 27 balls to spare.

The second game of the five-match series takes place on Sunday.

India v England - fixtures & results
England stamp their authority
After England were outplayed in losing the Test series 3-1, the T20s looked like a mouthwatering contest - the two best teams in the world, with all the matches played in the world's biggest cricket stadium, seven months away from a World Cup in India.

With a full-strength side at his disposal, England captain Eoin Morgan said this was a learning experience before the World Cup.

As it turned out, the tourists were completely dominant from the moment Morgan won the toss.

As a collective, the fast bowlers were pacey, pounding away short of a length. Morgan's decision to entrust Rashid with the new ball was astute, typifying his excellent night as captain, while England's fielding was faultless.

There was no sign of England's batting struggles from the Test series, and the contest was over long before Dawid Malan sealed victory with a straight six.

Archer shows his class
Archer has endured a difficult tour, missing two Tests with an elbow injury, then using his newspaper column to respond to questions over his desire to play for England.

In the shortest format, he has few peers. Here, he put in the sort of performance that brought him the Most Valuable Player award at last year's Indian Premier League.

He had KL Rahul drag on in the second over, then later returned to have the dangerous Hardik Pandya held at mid-off and Shardul Thakur hook the next ball to deep square leg.

The rest of the pace bowlers followed his example. Mark Wood was constantly above 90mph, Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes ensured there was no respite, while Sam Curran went through his range of variations.

Still, the most telling blow came from Rashid. When Kohli slapped his fifth delivery to mid-off, a crowd of 67,200 in Ahmedabad fell silent.

India outplayed
This was a dreadful performance from India, who rested opener Rohit Sharma, then saw their batting strangled.

Iyer impressed with his touch and timing, while Rishabh Pant played an outrageous reverse ramp off Archer that went for six, but the rest made little to no impact.

Whereas England relied on pace, India chose three frontline spinners, only for Roy to climb into leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal.

Even though Chahal ended an opening stand of 72 when he had Jos Buttler lbw for 28 and Roy was leg before to Washington Sundar, Jonny Bairstow arrived a man transformed from the one who registered three ducks in four Test innings.

Victory was England's biggest over India in T20s in terms of wickets and balls remaining.

'Huge amount of competition for places' - what they said
England captain Eoin Morgan: "We are trying to cover all departments, particularly when we're under the pump. Today the guys were so good they didn't allow that to happen.

"There's a huge amount of competition for places. When Jason scores runs and goes well, it really does gee the boys up."

Man of the match Jofra Archer: "I'd rather go for dot balls in the powerplay than wickets, and if you get the wicket it's the bonus. The pressure that creates normally helps the other bowler."

India captain Virat Kohli: "We weren't aware enough of what we had to do on that kind of a pitch - a lack of execution of the shots we tried to play."