England were bowled out for 112 on a thoroughly miserable opening day of the crucial third Test with India in Ahmedabad.
After Joe Root won the toss and opted to bat in supposedly friendly batting conditions, India’s bowlers ripped them to shreds with Axar Patel unplayable as he grabbed six wickets.
Only opener Zak Crawley, with an aggressive 53, took the game to the hosts as both Dom Sibley and Jonny Bairstow were dismissed for ducks, captain Joe Root made just 17 and Ben Stokes came and went for six.
England seemed to have no answer to the onslaught of bounce and turn in an exhibition of how not to bat on the subcontinent as only four of their batsmen made more than six runs.
Ravichandran Ashwin (right) celebrates with Shubman Gill after taking Joe Root’s wicket
Zak Crawley (right) considered whether to review after Axar Patel dismissed him LBW
Ishant Sharma celebrates the wicket of Dom Sibley as India made an early breakthrough
In his 100th Test, Ishant removed England opener Sibley for a duck in Ahmedabad
Crawley had been the only batsman looking truly at ease in a pitch that actually contained plenty of demons but after bringing up his half-century with a display of aggressive and purposeful batting, he was out LBW to Axar Patel for 53.
It came not long after Root fell to Ravi Ashwin for 17 in a sucker punch just as it looked as though England were getting to grip with the conditions.
Root stepped back and Ashwin’s delivery missed the inside edge of his bat and straightened sufficiently for ball tracker to show it was hitting the top of leg stump, confirming the umpire’s ‘out’ verdict.
Worse followed after the 20-minute interval that split the first and second session. Pope scored just one run before playing the wrong line to Ashwin and seeing his off-stump removed.
Hopes were pinned on Stokes but he was struck on the back pad above the knee roll by Axar and given out by the umpire. His review proved futile, the ball tracker returning an Umpire’s Call verdict with the ball hitting the bail between middle and off stump.
Sibley’s struggles on the subcontinent continued as he was dismissed without scoring
Axar Patel celebrates the wicket of Jonny Bairstow with captain Virat Kohli
Zak Crawley looked perfectly at ease in the conditions as he brought up his half-century
Earlier, Sibley, who has struggled since making 87 in the first innings of the first Test, was coaxed into playing a shot to Ishant Sharma and edged off the outside of the bat to Rohit Sharma at second slip.
And Bairstow, restored to the side, also went without scoring when trapped LBW by Axar with his first ball of the match, the England man’s review proving unsuccessful with the bat clearly not involved.
But Crawley looked far more at ease with the conditions and struck a succession of boundaries to bring up his fifty off 68 balls.
It was a less than ideal start for England after captain Root won the toss and decided to bat first on what appeared to be a batting-friendly pitch.
Root made changes at the top of the batting order and in his bowling attack with the series tantalisingly poised at 1-1.
Record-wicket taker James Anderson returns to resume his long-standing partnership with Stuart Broad, with the pair hoping to see the pink ball swinging at the enormous 132,000-capacity Motera Stadium.
Jofra Archer completed England’s pace trio as he reclaims his place following an elbow injury. Moeen Ali, who has left the tour and returned to England, and Olly Stone drop out of the attack.
There were to alterations to the top three of a batting line-up that will hope to take full advantage of favourable conditions to post a large first innings score after Root won the toss.
Zak Crawley and Bairstow come back in at two and three respectively, replacing Rory Burns and Dan Lawrence.
England captain Joe Root (left) won the toss and elected to bat with his India counterpart Virat Kohli (right) admitting he would have done the same
The pink ball third Test between India and England is underway in Ahmedabad
The Test is being played at the 110,000-capacity Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad
India made two changes from their second Test victory with Jasprit Bumrah and Washington Sundar replacing Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammad Siraj.
The side that has batted first has emerged victorious in the first two Tests of the four-match series in Chennai, so England will hope that trend continues.
But what is only the second day-night Test match to take place in India throws up plenty of unknown factors.
The presence of a 60,000-strong crowd – the stadium will only be half-full because of Covid-19 restrictions – plus the vagaries of the pink ball, floodlights slowly taking a greater effect and a pitch more conducive to seam make for an intriguing occasion.