Ishant Sharma tore through England as India decisively seized the upper hand on the third day of the first Test.
The tall seamer took five for 51, breaking the spine of the batting, as the home side was dismissed for 180 in the second innings.
England was 87 for seven at one stage, before Sam Curran launched a spirited counterattack, scoring a 65-ball 63. The 20-year-old was the last man to fall, as tea was taken with India needing 194 for victory.
Early strike
In the morning, Ashwin picked up from where he had left off on day two. A quarter of an hour in, he had Keaton Jennings caught by K.L. Rahul at second slip.
Much depended on Joe Root and he seemed to be handling Ashwin fairly well, until the latter turned into the right-hander.
Defiant: After giving a good account of himself with the ball, Sam Curran proved his worth with the bat as well. | Photo Credit: ADRIAN DENNIS
Root clipped it off his pads and was caught brilliantly by Rahul at leg-slip.
Dawid Malan endured a disastrous time in the field on Thursday, dropping Virat Kohli twice, and needed to make amends here. Ishant, who had been operating from over-the-wicket, switched his approach.
He angled the ball into Malan and had it move away; the left-hander was miserable, and was squared up time and again.
He eventually offered a meek edge that was swallowed in the gully by Ajinkya Rahane.
This was the start of an extraordinary burst from Ishant, a period of 17 balls — either side of lunch — in which he claimed four wickets. Jonny Bairstow, who had shown an inclination to attack, was Ishant's next victim, edging one to first slip, where Shikhar Dhawan held a good, low catch.
Ben Stokes arrived and Kohli joined the cordon, stationing himself at third slip. Two balls later an edge flew his way and Stokes was gone without scoring.
Lunch was called with England rattled.
Ishant had two balls left in an over that had yielded two wickets already and he struck a third time, forcing an out-of-sorts Jos Buttler to nibble at one and hand Dinesh Karthik a simple catch.
England was seven down with the lead at 100 and suddenly India could sight a famous victory.
No mood to give up
Young Curran, though, was in no mood to give up. The all-rounder, playing in only his second Test, was England's most successful performer with the ball and he proved his worth with the bat here.
Curran went after India's bowlers, slashing and living dangerously. He smashed Ashwin over the sightscreen for six before driving him back over his head for four next ball. Ishant was lashed for six over extra-cover as Curran completed his maiden Test fifty.
Curran and Adil Rashid added 48 for the eighth wicket before Umesh bowled the latter.
Broad and Curran then stitched together a partnership of 41 (44 balls) for the ninth wicket as England's lead suddenly swelled.
Ishant removed Broad eventually to claim his eighth five-wicket haul and when Umesh got rid of Curran, it left India chasing a target under 200.
Scoreboard
England — 1st innings: 287.
India — 1st innings: M. Vijay lbw b Curran 20 (45b, 4x4), Shikhar Dhawan c Malan b Curran 26 (46b, 3x4), K.L. Rahul b Curran 4 (2b, 1x4), Virat Kohli c Broad b Rashid 149 (225b, 22x4, 1x6), Ajinkya Rahane c Jennings b Stokes 15 (34b, 1x4), Dinesh Karthik b Stokes 0 (4b), Hardik Pandya lbw b Curran 22 (52b, 3x4), R. Ashwin b Anderson 10 (15b, 3x4), Mohammed Shami c Malan b Anderson 2 (4b); Ishant Sharma lbw b Rashid 5 (17b), Umesh Yadav (not out) 1 (16b); Extras (b-4, lb-11, nb-4, w-1): 20; Total (in 76 overs): 274.
Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Vijay, 13.4), 2-54 (Rahul, 13.6), 3-59 (Dhawan, 15.5), 4-100 (Rahane, 27.4), 5-100 (Karthik, 29.2), 6-148 (Pandya, 45.6), 7-169 (Ashwin, 50.3), 8-182 (Shami, 54.1), 9-217 (Ishant, 63.4).
England bowling: Anderson 22-7-41-2, Broad 10-2-40-0, Curran 17-1-74-4, Rashid 8-0-31-2, Stokes 19-4-73-2.
England — 2nd innings: Alastair Cook b Ashwin 0 (14b), Keaton Jennings c Rahul b Ashwin 8 (18b, 1x4), Joe Root c Rahul b Ashwin 14 (35b, 1x4), Dawid Malan c Rahane b Ishant 20 (64b, 2x4), Jonny Bairstow c Dhawan b Ishant 28 (40b, 5x4), Ben Stokes c Kohli b Ishant 6 (13b), Jos Buttler c Karthik b Ishant 1 (2b), Sam Curran c Karthik b Umesh 63 (65b, 9x4, 2x6), Adil Rashid b Umesh 16 (40b, 1x4), Stuart Broad c Dhawan b Ishant 11 (28b), James Anderson (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (b-10, lb-2, nb-1): 13; Total (in 53 overs): 180.
Fall of wickets: 1-9 (Cook, 3.4), 2-18 (Jennings, 7.4), 3-39 (Root, 15.1), 4-70 (Malan, 26.2), 5-85 (Bairstow, 30.2), 6-86 (Stokes, 30.4), 7-87 (Buttler, 30.6), 8-135 (Rashid, 44.4), 9-176 (Broad, 51.6).
India bowling: Shami 12-2-38-0, Ashwin 21-4-59-3, Ishant 13-0-51-5, Umesh 7-1-20-2.