Dharamsala: Kuldeep Yadav’s five-wicket haul helped India reduce England to 194 for eight at tea on Day 1 of the fifth and final Test here on Thursday.
England started the post-lunch session at 100 for two but lost six wickets for just 94 runs as Indian spinners, led by Kuldeep (5/72), ran through their batting unit.
Opener Zak Crawley (79, 108 balls) offered lone resistance for England.
There were two middling partnerships -– 37 between Crawley and Joe Root (26) for the third wicket and 38 between Root and 100-Test-man Jonny Bairstow (29) for the fourth wicket –- but they were not sufficient for the visitors.
In fact, the tourists lost the last five wickets for a mere eight runs as R Ashwin, who is playing his 100th Test, and Ravindra Jadeja too got into the act.
Brief scores: England: 194 for 8 in 55 overs (Zak Crawley 79, Kuldeep Yadav 5/72, R Ashwin 2/39) vs India.