18 February 2024 , 11:17
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England have lost the third Test against India by a mammoth 434 runs after a dominant, record-breaking display by the hosts in Rajkot.
The tourists are now 2-1 down in the series having been bowled out for just 122 in their second innings, with India batter Yashasvi Jaiswal earlier starring with 214 not out, an innings which included 12 sixes - a joint-Test match record. That helped inspire the hosts to their biggest ever win in terms of runs.
England had started the day with India on 196-2 and made a rare breakthrough when Ben Stokes ran out Shubman Gill, who ended his innings on 91. A second wicket soon followed as Joe Root caught Kuldeep Yadav off of Rehan Ahmed's bowling to leave India on 258-4.
Jaiswal was left undeterred however and batted the tourists out of the match alongside Sarfaraz Khan before India declared on 430-4. That left Ben Stokes and co chasing 557 runs to win and facing more than a day of batting to earn a draw.
England have shown swashbuckling bravery and earned results from the jaws of defeat before under the captaincy of Stokes, but this was a day more familiar to his predecessors. Any hope of a positive result was swiftly dented in the seventh over when Ben Duckett was run out with England's score on just 15. The 29-year-old hit an impressive 153 runs in the first innings to top score for the visitors but was unable to repeat his feat.
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England soon found themselves four wickets down as Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow all fell with only 28 runs on the board. Joe Root and Stokes offered some very brief respite before both fell with the score on 50 and Ahmed was then out for a duck.
Ben Foakes and Tom Hartley could only make it to 16 runs apiece as England's tail attempted to make the scoreline look respectable, but only Mark Wood's efforts saw them pass 100. The fast bowler went out slogging to record 33 runs from 15 balls that included six fours and one six as the match ended with James Anderson stranded on one.
England were bowled out for 122 runs in their second innings during day four of the 3rd Test Match against India (Philip Brown/Popperfoto)Ravindra Jadeja ended the innings with an impressive 5-41, while Ravi Ashwin returned to the field on day four to pick up a wicket from his six overs. The India spinner had departed the test match on Friday to tend to a family medical emergency and effectively left India down to 10 players.
England now face a stiff test to come out of the series with a positive outcome. Two tests remain to leave the team with a chance at victory but they will need to recover from a decisive blow as they head to Ranchi and Dharamshala District Kangra.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Stokes provided his assessment: "Ben Duckett played an unbelievable innings and that was the tone we wanted to set throughout the whole innings. For us it is about identifying that opportunity to push on and get as close as we could. I said I wanted to be bowling yesterday because of how we felt the wicket was going. Sometimes gameplans don't work out and that is sport sometimes."
He added: "2-1 down and two games left. We have a great opportunity for 3-2. We leave this game behind us and know we have to win the next two games to win the series."