Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up five wickets between themselves in the second innings to leave England reeling at 55/5. On a wearing track that was aiding spinners, English batsman struggled to counter the threat posed by the Indian spin duo. In process, Axar also claimed his first ever, 10-wicket haul in Test. India took a slender 33-run first-innings lead against England as they were bowled for 145 in 53.2 overs in the first session of the second day of the third Test here on Thursday.
England captain, at best a part-time spinner, took a staggering career-best figures of five wickets for eight runs to hasten India's demise. Root become the first England skipper since Bob Willis in 1983 to take a Test fifer and his figures of 5/8 from 6.2 overs reminded many of the spell from former Australia batsman Michael Clarke. Handed the ball by Ricky Ponting in the second innings of the Mumbai Test in 2004, Clarke finished with figures of 6/9 from 6.2 overs.Left-arm spinner Jack Leach bagged four wickets for 54, as India slumped from 98 for two to be all out for 145.Only four batsmen reached the double figures, with Rohit Sharma being the top scorer with 66 off 96 balls.
