Yadav gives India opening day honours against England
Kuldeep Yadav took five wickets to bundle out England for 218, with India's batsmen starting strongly on a dominant opening day for the hosts in the fifth Test on Thursday. Yadav returned figures of 5-72 and, along with fellow spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who took four wickets in his landmark 100th Test, bowled out the tourists in just 57.4 overs at the picturesque Dharamsala stadium. India reached 135-1 at stumps, still trailing England by 83 runs. Skipper Rohit Sharma, on 52, and Shubman Gill, on 26, were batting at the close of play after in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal fell for 57. The left-handed Jaiswal looked assured until his departure as he smashed spinner Shoaib Bashir for three sixes in an over, and consolidated his position at the top of the series batting with 712 runs. Bashir, a rookie off-spinner, got Jaiswal stumped to end a 104-run opening stand. England elected to bat first in their bid for a consolation win and Zak Crawley started strongly with his 79 before the batting collapsed from 175-3. Top batsmen Jonny Bairstow [29], in his 100th Test, Joe Root [26] and skipper Ben Stokes – out for a duck – went back on the same team score of 175. England lost five wickets for eight runs in seven overs. India lost the opening Test but hit back to take an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. (AFP)