London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Nov 17, 2025

India beat England inside two days

India beat England inside two days

England succumbed to a 10-wicket defeat against India inside two days of an astonishing third Test in Ahmedabad.

England have been bowled out for less than 200 in five consecutive innings

On a scarcely believable day when both sides collapsed and 17 wickets fell in two sessions, India completed the quickest Test win since 1935 not long into the final session.

England began the day with a thrilling fightback, turning India's overnight 99-3 into 145 all out.

But, faced with a first-innings deficit of 33, England were bowled out for 81 as India's spinners ran riot once again.

In a frenzied start to their second innings, England lost Zak Crawley and Jonny Bairstow within three balls - both bowled by Axar Patel.

Ben Stokes and Joe Root briefly calmed the raucous atmosphere but their dismissals in consecutive overs sparked a sorry procession to England's lowest Test total in India.

Spinners were responsible for every wicket to fall on the day - and 28 of the 30 in the match - Joe Root taking 5-8 in the first session, Axar 5-32 and Ravichandran Ashwin 4-48, including his 400th Test scalp.

India cruised to their target of 49 inside eight overs, an incredible game wrapped up before the floodlit conditions of a day-night Test could have an impact.

Victory gave India, who lost the first Test, an unassailable 2-1 lead in the series with one match to play and ended England's hopes of qualifying for the World Test Championship final this summer.

England blown away on wild day


If the first day of this Test was remarkable - England bowled out for 112 despite winning the toss - the second was one of the most incredible in recent memory.

Neither side got to grips with a turning pitch, at least not until India's chase when England were demoralised after their second collapse of the game.

The 17 wickets fell in 53 overs for the loss of 127 runs, the match over with almost 30 overs remaining on the second day.

India's Rohit Sharma completed victory by hitting Joe Root for six
The fact Root, a part-time off-spinner, claimed such extraordinary figures showed the difficulties faced by batsmen. The spinners found extravagant turn but wickets often fell to deliveries that skidded on.

Although England's fightback brought them back into the contest, the skill and relentless accuracy of Axar and Ashwin proved too much for a side that also collapsed twice in the second-Test defeat.

Had England mustered another 100 runs India would have had a difficult chase.

Instead, under little pressure, Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma cantered to victory in one-day mode to the delight of the crowd in the world's largest cricket stadium.

England's defeat in numbers


*  England lasted 476 balls across two innings - the fifth fewest in their Test history.

*  England scored less than 200 runs in the game for only the seventh time, and the third since 1904.

*  It is the eighth two-day Test since World War Two and England's first defeat inside two days since 1921.

First, India fold...


Having wasted winning the toss on day one, England's fightback with the ball gave them a route back into the contest.

Jack Leach, who removed India captain Virat Kohli in the final over on Wednesday, struck twice early on day two, bowling Ajinkya Rahane as he tried to cut trapping a sweeping Rohit Sharma lbw for 66.

Root then ran through the lower middle order.

Rishabh Pant was caught behind off Root's first ball before Washington Sundar and Axar fell in the space of three balls to give the England captain figures of 3-0.

While it was Root's first five-wicket haul in Tests, it only added the questions over England's choice to pick one frontline spinner in Leach - a view compounded when Root opened the bowling in the fourth innings.

India collapsed from 114-3 to 145 as Leach finished with 4-48, but an impressive bowling performance was soon to be wasted by England's batsmen.

...then England collapse again


England's first showing with the bat put them in a difficult position. The second was feeble and confirmed their fate.

Having seen Crawley bowled first ball, Bairstow attempted to sweep his first delivery and was given out lbw. Although he overturned the decision on review, he was bowled next ball to complete a pair on his return to the side.

After Dom Sibley was caught behind attempting a leg-side heave at Axar, Root and Stokes batted positively in exceptionally difficult conditions but a wicket never felt far away.

Root had already survived a tight review when he was leg before for 19 pushing forward to Axar, and Stokes fell in similar fashion to Ashwin for 25.

Ashwin has now dismissed Stokes 11 times in Tests and, once he fell, the result seemed inevitable.

Ashwin tormented Ollie Pope before bowling him for 12, then had Jofra Archer lbw as he swiped across the line to give him his 400th Test wicket. Playing his 77nd Test, Ashwin is the second quickest bowler to reach the landmark, after Sri Lanka legend Muttiah Muralitharan's 72.

A series that started so strongly with the bat - England scored 578 in the first innings of the first Test - is teetering on the brink of disarray.

Defeat does not 'define' England - what they said


England captain Joe Root: "We're bitterly disappointed. We don't define ourselves on a performance like that. It was a very challenging surface.

"We missed an opportunity, more in the first innings than anything. If we'd got 200, that would have been a very good score on that wicket and the game would have looked completely different."

India captain Virat Kohli: "The result went our way but the quality of batting wasn't at all up to standard by both teams. We were 100-3 and hoping to get more than we needed. There was a lack of application from both sides."

India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin: "It felt amazing when the board was flashing 400 wickets and the crowd were clapping for me.

"When we collapsed I thought the game could be in the balance, but Axar Patel pulled it back for us and it was a good performance in the third innings."

England bowler Steven Finn: "England are going to have to look at their team selection. I'll be amazed if we don't see a different balance for the last Test.

"But the most important thing is doing your best to draw a line under this game now. They still have an opportunity to draw the series and it is only two Test matches ago that they produced one of the most complete performances by an England team in the sub-continent for a long time."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Unveils Sweeping Asylum Reforms with 20-Year Settlement Wait and Conditional Status
UK Orders Twitter Hacker to Repay £4.1 Million Following 2020 High-Profile Breach
Popeyes UK Eyes Century Mark as Fried-Chicken Chain Accelerates Roll-out
Two-thirds of UK nurses report working while unwell amid staffing crisis
Britain to Reform Human-Rights Laws in Sweeping Asylum Policy Overhaul
Nearly Half of Job Losses Under Labour Government Affect UK Youth
UK Chancellor Reeves Eyes High-Value Home Levy in Budget to Raise Tens of Billions
UK Urges Poland to Choose Swedish Submarines in Multi-Billion € Defence Bid
US Border Czar Tom Homan Declares UK No Longer a ‘Friend’ Amid Intelligence Rift
UK Announces Reversal of Income Tax Hike Plans Ahead of Budget
Starmer Faces Mounting Turmoil as Leaked Briefings Ignite Leadership Plot Rumours
UK Commentator Sami Hamdi Returns Home After US Visa Revocation and Detention
UK Eyes Denmark-Style Asylum Rules in Major Migration Shift
UK Signals Intelligence Freeze Amid US Maritime Drug-Strike Campaign
TikTok Awards UK & Ireland 2025 Celebrates Top Creators Including Max Klymenko as Creator of the Year
UK Growth Nearly Stalls at 0.1% in Q3 as Cyberattack Halts Car Production
Apple Denied Permission to Appeal UK App Store Ruling, Faces Over £1bn Liability
UK Chooses Wylfa for First Small Modular Reactors, Drawing Sharp U.S. Objection
Starmer Faces Growing Labour Backlash as Briefing Sparks Authority Crisis
Reform UK Withdraws from BBC Documentary Amid Legal Storm Over Trump Speech Edit
UK Prime Minister Attempts to Reassert Authority Amid Internal Labour Leadership Drama
UK Upholds Firm Rules on Stablecoins to Shield Financial System
Brussels Divided as UK-EU Reset Stalls Over Budget Access
Prince Harry’s Remembrance Day Essay Expresses Strong Regret at Leaving Britain
UK Unemployment Hits 5% as Wage Growth Slows, Paving Way for Bank of England Rate Cut
Starmer Warns of Resurgent Racism in UK Politics as He Vows Child-Poverty Reforms
UK Grocery Inflation Slows to 4.7% as Supermarkets Launch Pre-Christmas Promotions
UK Government Backs the BBC amid Editing Scandal and Trump Threat of Legal Action
UK Assessment Mis-Estimated Fallout From Palestine Action Ban, Records Reveal
UK Halts Intelligence Sharing with US Amid Lethal Boat-Strike Concerns
King Charles III Leads Britain in Remembrance Sunday Tribute to War Dead
UK Retail Sales Growth Slows as Households Hold Back Ahead of Black Friday and Budget
Shell Pulls Out of Two UK Floating Wind Projects Amid Renewables Retreat
Viagogo Hit With £15 Million Tax Bill After HMRC Transfer-Pricing Inquiry
Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack Pinches UK GDP, Bank of England Says
UK and Germany Sound Alarm on Russian-Satellite Threat to Critical Infrastructure
Former Prince Andrew Faces U.S. Congressional Request for Testimony Amid Brexit of Royal Title
BBC Director-General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness Resign Amid Editing Controversy
Tom Cruise Arrives by Helicopter at UK Scientology Fundraiser Amid Local Protests
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson Face Fresh UK Probes Amid Royal Fallout
Mothers Link Teen Suicides to AI Chatbots in Growing Legal Battle
UK Government to Mirror Denmark’s Tough Immigration Framework in Major Policy Shift
UK Government Turns to Denmark-Style Immigration Reforms to Overhaul Border Rules
UK Chancellor Warned Against Cutting Insulation Funding as Budget Looms
UK Tenant Complaints Hit Record Levels as Rental Sector Faces Mounting Pressure
Apple to Pay Google About One Billion Dollars Annually for Gemini AI to Power Next-Generation Siri
UK Signals Major Shift as Nuclear Arms Race Looms
BBC’s « Celebrity Traitors UK » Finale Breaks Records with 11.1 Million Viewers
UK Spy Case Collapse Highlights Implications for UK-Taiwan Strategic Alignment
On the Road to the Oscars? Meghan Markle to Star in a New Film
×