On this day, February 25,2021: India beat England by ten wickets in a pink ball Test against England. This was the first Test played in the newly renovated Narendra Modi stadium which had a capacity of more than 1 lakh. The surface looked good but the way the pink ball behaved on that surface surprised everyone. The Test match was finished in two days as India thrashed England. It was England who were batting first and they lost Sibley and Bairstow cheaply. Joe Root and Crawley put up a partnership before both of the batters fell. Zak Crawley looked in great touch as he scored a half century before getting dismissed.
England were 80/3 at one stage and suddenly collapsed once Axar Patel came into the attack. From 80/3, England were bowled for 112 as Axar Patel was unplayable and picked up six wickets. Ashwin picked up three wickets as India wrapped the innings within the first day. When India came to bat in the second innings, they faced something similar as they kept losing wickets.
Rohit Sharma was the star for India as he smashed a quickfire 66 before getting dismissed. Rest of the Indian batters could not handle the surface as India were bowled for 145 and took a slight lead. Joe Root with his off-spin picked up five wickets for just eight runs as India crumbled. This Test match moved at a rapid pace with the ball completely dominating the proceedings. England were behind but not by much and the match was evenly poised.
India started the third innings with Axar Patel and Ravi Ashwin as it was evident that the spinners were threatening on that surface. England found it extremely tough and were bowled out for 81 in the third innings. Axar Patel picked up five wickets and Ashwin scalped four wickets. India were set a target of just 49 runs to win the match and we were only on Day 2 of the Test match. India chased it down within eight overs with ten wickets spare. Axar Patel was the player of the match for picking up 11 wickets in the game.
