NEW DELHI: Indian spin maestro
Ravichandran Ashwin
matched compatriot Anil Kumble to claim the record for the highest number of
five-wicket hauls
in
Test cricket
by an Indian. This milestone was achieved during the fourth Test against England in Ranchi.
In the second innings, Ashwin showcased his best performance of the series, clinching figures of 5/51 in 15.5 overs. His victims included Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Ben Foakes, and James Anderson.
With 35 Test five-wicket hauls each, both Ashwin and Kumble now share the distinction of being the Indian bowlers with the most such performances. This tally also places them jointly at the fourth position in the overall list, with Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan holding the record with 67 fifers in 133 Tests.
The spin maestro's notable competitor is the late Australian spin legend Shane Warne, boasting 37 five-wicket hauls in 145 Tests. Following closely is New Zealand's cricket icon Richard Hadlee, with 36 five-wicket hauls in 86 Tests.
Chasing 192 runs to win, India ended their day at 40/0, with skipper
Rohit Sharma
(24*) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (16*) unbeaten.
In their second inning, England was bundled out for just 145 runs, with Zak Crawley (60 in 91 balls, with seven fours) and Jonny Bairstow (30 in 42 balls, with three fours) offering some fight. Spinners took all the 10 wickets for India, with Ravichandran Ashwin (5/51) and Kuldeep Yadav (4/22) leading the bowlers. England led by 191 runs and set India a target of 192 runs to take the series win by 3-1.
Earlier, India was bundled out for 307 in their first innings in reply to England's first innings total of 353. Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal (73 in 117 balls, with eight fours and a six) firing once again, India was left struggling at 219/7. It was wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel (90 in 149 balls, with six fours and four sixes) who joined forces with Kuldeep (28 in 131 balls) to stitch a 76-run stand for the eighth wicket and India managed to score above 300 runs. Spinner Shoaib Bashir troubled Indian batters and took a five-wicket haul (5/119). Tom Hartley (3/68) and James Anderson (2/48) were also great with the ball.
England chose to bat first and put up 353 runs in their first innings, driven by a comeback century by their premier batter Joe Root (122* in 274 balls, 10 fours), a half-century from Ollie Robinson (58 in 96 balls, with nine fours and a six) and Ben Foakes (47 in 126 balls, with four boundaries and a six).
Ravindra Jadeja
(4/67) and Akash Deep (3/83) were the top bowlers for India.
(With inputs from ANI)
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