When fans were expecting a replicate of the Gabba Test, the Indian side came on the fifth day of the first Test against England repeating their Adelaide Test horrors.
After the fall of Shubman Gill's wicket, Ajinkya Rahane (0), Rishabh Pant (11), Washington Sundar (0) fell in quick succession. James Anderson was the star who sent back Gill and Rahane in the span of three balls. Pant too was a victim of Anderson's smart bowling.
As for Sundar, who missed a hundred in the first innings, bagged a duck in the second innings. Dom Bess' spin worked wonders as the all-rounder who tried to defend and play off the back foot, nicked it off but was caught by Jos Buttler behind stumps.
Seeing the way the fall of wickets took place reminded fans of the Adelaide Test horror where the Men in Blue were bowled out for 36.
Virat Kohli will be blamed again. I don’t if other team members do it necessarily or is it just coincidence
— Akshay (@AkshayKatariyaa) February 9, 2021
Virat Kohli Team is repeating their excellent performance after Adelaide test #INDvsENG_2021
— sanjay mishra (@mithilachase) February 9, 2021
Rahane and Rohit are 2 extra players which kohli have to deal with....
— Iamgroot (@Sinchan4u) February 9, 2021
1st Test, Day 5: Hopes pinned on Kohli after England rock India's top order:
— Nadeem khan (@Nadeem2khan1) February 9, 2021
When you're playing in India and there are 2 back to back Test matches.
This 1st is trails match.#INDvENG
— (@hadireza14) February 9, 2021
How on earth did India lose 5 wickets to Bess?? An absolute pie chucker!#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/2EuxDFlo4c
— Sahil Oberoi (@SahilOberoi1) February 9, 2021
Indian skipper Virat Kohli and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin are at the crease as India have scored 144 for the loss of 6 in 39 overs. India need 276 runs to win while England are 4 wickets away from victory.
On day four, England didn't declare even after having a lead of more than 400 runs and the visitors weren't even looking to score runs at a quick pace before they folded up for 178.
Ashwin picked six wickets, restricting England to a very low total in the second innings and with this, a target of 420 runs was set for the hosts.