By BD Naraayannkar
Rajkot, Feb 18 (UNI) Ravindra Jadeja's all-round performance nailed England's Bazball cricket with a century in the first innings and a five-fer in the second, putting India ahead 2-1 in the five-match Test series on Day 4 of the third Test here on Sunday.
India registered the biggest Test win by 434 runs.
Before being snuffed out by the Indian spinners, England were played out of the match with dazzling two sessions of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan's blitzkrieg.
On a pitch not aiding the English bowlers, the duo scripted their milestones, helping India gain a mammoth 556 runs lead before Rohit Sharma decided to declare.
The day resumed with Shubman Gill eyeing his second century of the series but was unfortunately run out.
Kuldeep Yadav, the nightwatchman, was dogged and stayed put for 91 balls but England claimed the second wicket of the day and expected to restrict India from flying away from taking a huge lead in the second innings.
The opposite unraveled as Jaiswal came out to bat again after retiring hurt on 104 due back spasm on Day 3. He did not show any mercy to the English spinners, indicating the injury did not bother him at all.
Sarfaraz too was belligerent, clobbering English bowlers out of the park at will in the post-lunch session.
Jaiswal was severe against senior pro James Anderson for three consecutive sixes as Captain Ben Stokes packed the offside against him, but he slog-swept the pacer behind square. He then ventured outside the popping crease and smacked over deep extra cover and topped it with a huge six.
On the way to a stunning double century, Jaiswal equaled the record for the most sixes in an inning in Tests with Wasim Akram with 12. Jaiswal also became only the third batsman after Vinod Kambli and Virat Kohli to score double tons in two successive Tests.
Sarfaraz smoked his way to his second half-century of the game, with Joe Root and Tom Hartley receiving the blows of his bat. The pair smashed 116 off 16 overs in the second session before Rohit declared and set England 557 runs target in the fourth innings.
England, who have been pretty successful chasing big scores, succumbed to Indian spinners. They fell to Jadeja, Kuldeep and Ravichandran Ashwin's trickery. The 500-wicket hauler was chartered in from Chennai just before the final session having temporarily left the squad on Day 2 owing to a personal emergency.
Resuming the last session on 18 for 2, Jadeja got Ollie Pope early caught in the slips by Rohit. Jonny Bairstow did not last long either. He succumbed to his poor form trying to sweep but to be trapped in front off the local boy, leaving England on 28 for 4.
Joe Root's curbing innings resulted in his downfall after going for a sweep, becoming Jadeja's third victim.
The game swiftly swung into India's favour after Ben Stokes fell also trying to sweep against Kuldeep, pushing England in a deep hole at 50 for 6.
Rehan Ahmed was hold out at long on while trying for a big heave, leaving England on 50 for 7. Dhruv Jurel, who has had a fantastic Test behind the stumps, took a sharp catch to send Ben Foakes packing.
Tom Hartley threw his bat around for his 16 runs, before inside edging Ashwin's tossed up ball.
Mark Wood's 33 off just 15 balls pushed England's total past 100 runs mark, but Jadeja hauled him up to complete his fifer and India's victory.
Brief Scores: India 445 (Rohit Sharma 131, Ravindra Jadeja 112, Sarfaraz Khan 62; Mark Wood 4-114) & 430/4 decl. (Yashasvi Jaiswal 214*, Shubman Gill 91, Sarfaraz Khan 68*) beat England 319 (Ben Duckett 153; Mohammad Siraj 4-84) & 122 (Mark Wood 33; Ravindra Jadeja 5-41, Kuldeep Yadav 2-19) by 434 runs
UNI BDN GNK