Recent Match Report – England vs India 4th Test 2020/21

Join us for updates, analysis and colour from the first day of the fourth Test

Welcome to day one of our live report of the fourth India-England Test from Ahmedabad. Join us for updates, analysis and colour. You can find our traditional ball-by-ball commentary here

*Most recent entry will appear at the top, please refresh your page for the latest updates. All times are local

10.15am: Zak attack falls flat

Two in two overs for Patel, as Zak Crawley’s not-going-to-die-wondering approach fails to come off! Similar to Crawley’s dismissal right at the very start of England’s tour in Sri Lanka, when he hit Lasith Embuldeniya to mid-off; having stroked four down the ground a few balls earlier, this time he couldn’t get to the pitch and spooned a simple catch to Siraj, who barely had to move. That means Crawley is closing in on a full house against left-arm spin, having fallen three times to Patel in this series, and four out of four to Embuldeniya in Galle.

10am: Axar on, Dom off

Spin into the mix for the sixth over, and quickly England have to get into Indiana Jones mode. Sure enough, it takes just two balls for Axar Patel to strike and take his Test match bowling average below nine… and again it’s the tricksy non-turner that does the damage, as Dom Sibley plays forward looking for spin, but only succeeds in deflecting an inside edge on to his leg bail. Couldn’t even say the ball before had spooked him by ragging big, as Sibley had smothered it – but I suppose the horse has already bolted when it comes to England’s mentality against spin. Another false start from the openers, who have just one partnership above 17 from 11 innings this winter.

9.45am: Sighters

So, is it going to be bunsen burner, nice little earner for Virat Kohli and his side once again? You couldn’t blame them for taking that route, given the way England’s batting has crumbled since making 578 in the very first outing of the series – and all suggestions before the start here were that Motera would dust up nicely with a red ball, as it did for the pink (albeit that so many dismissals in the third Test came from non-turning deliveries). Anyway, for now it’s a classical diet of new-ball seam, India starting off with Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj in harness; Ishant snaked one into Zak Crawley’s front pad in the opening over, but DRS showed it to be going over the top. To whet the appetite for what’s to come, I’ll leave you with this little chat between Sanjay Manjrekar and Raunak Kapoor on the subject of turning pitches in India.

9.25am: WTC

The state of play: India need only to avoid defeat to secure their spot in the World Test Championship final. England, meanwhile, can only play the role of party poopers, but they’ll have Australia – the team that would benefit from an India defeat – barracking for them. Beyond the added WTC context, England are aiming to become only the fourth team since 1984 to win two Tests in a series in India.