England show spirit but Kohli and Ashwin keep India in command

India 455 and 98 for 3 (Kohli 56*, Rahane 22*) lead England 255 (Stokes 70, Bairstow 53, Root 53, Ashwin 5-67) by 298 runs Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Three days into Visakhapatnam’s maiden Test match, the prospects of England emerging from this contest with anything less than a hefty defeat remain no less bleak than they had appeared at the height of their top-order implosion on the second afternoon.

However, this was a day on which their hopes of a fightback in the remaining three fixtures were exponentially boosted, thanks to a feisty series of performances with bat and ball that required India’s champion bowler and batsman, R Ashwin and Virat Kohli, to summon their very best efforts in order maintain their side’s dominance.

The tone for England’s day was set by a spirited stand of 110 between their overnight pair of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow, but their fate was eventually sealed by the wiles of Ashwin, who claimed his 22nd five-wicket haul but first against England, to secure India a priceless first-innings lead of 200.

Then, after India had decided not to enforce the follow-on, Kohli reached the close on 56 not out, another imperious display to follow on from his first-innings 167, and one in which he obliged to overcome an exemplary display of incision and experience from England’s senior bowlers, Stuart Broad and James Anderson, whose combined figures to date are 3 for 22 in 14 overs.

India’s overall lead by stumps was an imposing 298, and on a surface now offering sharp turn to the spinners and clear signs of uneven bounce, mere survival will be a challenge beyond anything that England have yet encountered on this trip. Nevertheless, given the naïve hour’s batting that had condemned them on the second afternoon, this was a response from which is no platitude to admit that they will “take the positives”.

The general assumption before the start of play was that England would continue to stumble against India’s spin-led attack, and Bairstow’s alarming arrival on the field of play merely sharpened those thoughts. Jogging out to the middle to resume his innings on 12 not out, Bairstow lost his footing as he crossed the boundary line and had to hobble back to the dressing-room for treatment after rolling his ankle.

He showed no ill-effects however, turning quickly for two runs in Umesh Yadav’s first over of the day to open his account for the day, and from that moment on, England’s sixth-wicket pairing continued in the same prolific vein that they have displayed all year. Between them, they have now made 772 runs in seven stands in 2016, the most by any batting pair.

India stuck doggedly to their guns …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com