India v England, third Test, day three LIVE – Early wickets peg back England as Ben Duckett continues stunning innings

England trail India (445 all out) by 220 runs

Jonny Bairstow lbw to Kuldeep Yadav for 0 (4b)

One wicket brings two as Kuldeep traps Bairstow straight in-front and the finger eventually goes up.

After a long discussion the new batter reviews but I’m not entirely sure why. He was nowhere near connecting with a ball that turned a long back into him and caught him flush in front.

DRS says it’s hitting middle of middle and Bairstow doesn’t even wait for the confirmation after seeing the initial replay. He’s not troubled the scorers and has burned a review in frankly embarrassing fashion.

Ben Stokes is the new batter and India have a chance to get into England’s lower order this morning and give themselves a first-innings lead.

England trail India (445 all out) by 221 runs

Joe Root caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal bowled Jasprit Bumrah for 18 (31b)

It’s a gift for India as Root attempts to play a sort of reverse scoop off Bumrah, but he doesn’t connect and guides it to Jaiswal at second slip, who holds on to a catch that came at him very fast.

Root is furious with himself and it’s a big breakthrough for India, who really needed an early wicket to set themselves up in this first session today.

England trail India (445 all out) by 222 runs

Duckett tucks in to Kuldeep off the first ball of the spinner’s second over, aggressively sweeping him away through midwicket for four runs.

There’s a scare for the centurion later in the over though, as he hesitates when called through for a quick single and is fortunate that the throw from a scrambling Jurel isn’t better. The keeper had to move quite a bit to get to the ball, but Duckett would have been in trouble with a direct hit.

England trail India (445 all out) by 229 runs

Bumrah continues and Root takes advantage of one that’s a bit short, playing it very late to dab it away for the first boundary of the day. Six runs come from the over.

India are wearing black armbands today, although the official word is that it’s not related to Ashwin’s absence, but is in memory of Dattajirao Gaekwad, former India captain, who passed away earlier this week.

England trail India (445 all out) by 235 runs

It’s Kuldeep rather than Siraj at the other end to start the day, and he’s operating with a rather defensive field.

Root makes a watchful start against the spinner, picking up just a single.

England trail India (445 all out) by 236 runs

Bumrah bowls the first over of the day. The first hour was pretty lively for the quicks on the opening two days, although on both occasions England had a new ball to go along with the slightly hazy conditions.

It’s a bashed up 35-year-old ball for Bumrah and it’ll be interesting to see what he can extract from the pitch before any overnight moisture completely burns away.

England have been relatively wary against the quick all innings as a rule, and two singles come from his over. He’s still going at more than 4s, but that’s far less than any other bowler in the attack.

Ravichandran Ashwin will not be involved in the play today and has withdrawn from the remainder of the Test just a day after becoming the ninth player in history to take 500 Test wickets, with the off-spinner pulling out of the match due to a family emergency.

It’s sad and concerning news and our thoughts are with Ashwin and his family.

It might be exceptionally early on this Saturday morning, but if you’re tuning in to TNT Sports then you’ve made an excellent decision.

This third Test is fascinatingly poised after a second day that saw the momentum swing in England’s favour thanks to Ben Duckett’s remarkable century.

India still have a substantial lead though, and will remain hopeful of securing a big first-innings advantage for the third time in the series.

• England reach 207-2 at six-an-over but still trail by 238
• Ben Duckett scores brilliant 133* from 118 balls
• Ravichandran Ashwin reaches 500-wicket landmark

Bazball has truly arrived in this series, with England ending day two of the third Test on 207-2, and with Ben Duckett set to resume on 133* after hitting a brilliant century.

Duckett’s 133 runs have come off just 118 balls, featuring 21 fours and two sixes, with England rattling along at almost six runs an over and give a high-quality India attack all sorts of problems.

Zak Crawley (15) and Ollie Pope (39) were the two wickets to fall for England, with Ravichandran getting Crawley to make history with his 500th wicket in Test cricket, becoming only the ninth bowler to do so.

Ashwin also played a decent part with the bat earlier in the day as India got up to 445 in their first innings, meaning that they still lead by 238 despite being put to the sword by England in the evening session.

England started the day with a bang, taking two early wickets to give hope of wrapping up India’s innings quickly

James Anderson had the nightwatchman Kuldeep Yadav caught behind for the first dismissal of the day.

And centurion Ravindra Jadeja was unable to start again as he chipped a catch straight back to Joe Root.

But India ground out the runs in the remainder of an attritional morning session, as Ashwin and debutant Dhruv Jurel ensured India went beyond 400.

Two bad drops after lunch didn’t prove hugely expensive for England, but a late flurry from Jasprit Bumrah (26 from 28 balls) lifted India up to 445 all out – a decent total, especially having been 33-3 early on.

All five England bowlers took wickets in the innings, with Mark Wood ending with figures of 4-114 and Rehan Ahmed bagging 2-85. Tom Hartley bowled tidily and racked up 40 overs in the innings, while there was plenty of work for Wood and Anderson, who got through 27.5 and 25 overs respectively.

There was also a moment of slight controversy as India were hit with five penalty runs as Ashwin was warned for running down the wicket, meaning that England started their innings on 5-0 without facing a ball.

Duckett’s stunning century saw England counter-attack in their innings, which started with a mini-spell before tea and continued with a flurry of runs in the evening session.

But India still hold a significant lead with three days of this Test remaining, and England will need to bat well on the third day to take advantage of their strong start.

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