Ashwin’s record fifer in 100th Test hands India 4-1 series win over England

Ravichandran Ashwin’s record five-wicket haul (5/77) helped India complete an innings and 64-run victory over England on the third day of the fifth and final Test of the series in Dharamsala on Saturday (March 9).

With this big success, India wrapped up the series 4-1. It was a remarkable comeback by the Rohit Sharma-led side after losing the first Test in Hyderabad.

Trailing by 259 runs, England's batters, barring Joe Root (84, 128 balls, 12x4), failed once again in the second innings, as the visitors were bowled out for 195 in 48.1 overs. Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav had two wickets apiece while Ravindra Jadeja had one scalp.

Ashwin scripts history in 100th Test

Ashwin, playing in his 100th Test, claimed yet another five-wicket haul (Record 36th in Tests), in the second innings. He now has the most five-wicket hauls in Test cricket by an Indian, going past former India captain and legspinner Anil Kumble. Ashwin had entered the Test tied with Kumble on 35 Test five-wicket hauls.

The Tamil Nadu spinner is only the fourth bowler in history to take a five-wicket haul in his 100th Test, joining Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, and Kumble.

Also, Ashwin is the first bowler to have taken a five-wicket haul in his debut Test and the 100th. He had taken 6/47 in the second innings against the West Indies in his first Test in Delhi, in 2011. Overall, he took nine wickets (9/128) in that game and also won the Player of the Match award.

England’s second innings moved at a rather frenetic pace as the batters mainly resorted to attacking the Indian spinners in their bid to survive.

Ashwin finished with a match haul of nine wickets (9/128).

Bumrah leads in Rohit's absence

England skipper Ben Stokes (2) cut a sorry figure after falling to Ashwin at the stroke of lunch with a straighter one.

With Rohit Sharma not taking the field due to a stiff back, Bumrah led the side in the middle besides opening the bowling alongside Ashwin.

Ashwin once again got the better of England opener Ben Duckett (2). The southpaw, who had struggled defending against Ashwin in the previous games, charged down the wicket for a counter-attacking hit but was not near to the pitch of the ball, resulting in a bowled dismissal.

Ashwin had a leg slip in place for Zak Crawley (0) with the pitch offering a fair amount of turn and bounce. The England opener got an inside edge on to the pads and deflected straight into the hands of Sarfaraz Khan at leg-slip Ollie Pope (19), who is a tentative starter, was Ashwin's third victim.

Bairstow's sixes off Ashwin

It was an error in judgement again from an England batter as he went for an audacious sweep off a delivery that went straight with the arm and was also on the shorter side.

Jonny Bairstow (39 off 31), who is also playing his 100th Test, joined Joe Root in the middle and went on the offensive from the get go.

Playing with the spin, Bairstow hammered three thundering sixes off Ashwin on the on side before being adjudged lbw off Kuldeep Yadav. It was another boom-and-bust knock that Bairstow played in the series.

He exchanged a few words with Shubman Gill stationed at first slip and lost his concentration in the process. Root was left stranded on 34 off 52 balls at the break.

Anderson takes his 700th Test wicket

Earlier in the day, India took a huge 259-run first innings lead.

India could add only four runs to their overnight score to end with 477 in response to England's 218.

The visitors took less than 20 minutes to wrap up India's innings with veteran James Anderson finally getting to the 700-wicket mark. Young off-spinner Shoaib Bashir had Jasprit Bumrah stumped for his second five-wicket haul of his debut series.

(With agency inputs)