14:15 (IST)
Ajit Agarkar and Deep Dasgupta analyse the Motera pitch ahead of the second day's play:
Agarkar: It was going to turn. It was how much, and not if. You could see how much spin there was. Wickets have fallen to the natural variation. It was be quicker here than what it was in Chennai. That’s why the straighter ones have got more wickets. Probably the wicket got a little wet in the evening and stopped swinging.
Dasgupta: Here it’s more pebble. The wickets that Jack Leach got, it was the ball that was skidding through. Maybe it’s not that great an idea here. How the ball behaves will be interesting to see on this surface.
14:01 (IST)
A quick huddle for the hosts before play gets underway on the second day of the ongoing pink-ball Test
Hello from Ahmedabad ☀️
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 25, 2021
We are Day 2️⃣ ready 💪🏻 #TeamIndia #INDvENG #PinkBallTest @Paytm pic.twitter.com/esHRzYYnIV
13:50 (IST)
Some good news for the Indian women's cricket team, for they will be getting some game time soon. The upcoming limited-overs series against South Africa, which was originally scheduled to take place in Thiruvananthapuram, will now take place at the Ekana International Stadium in Lucknow.
Read more about it here
13:40 (IST)
ICYMI: The Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad is now the Narendra Modi Stadium. The venue, which has witnessed many an important milestone in Indian cricket over the years, was renamed and formally inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind on the opening day of the third Test.
Read more about it here
13:29 (IST)
Twitterati were abuzz when Ishant Sharma achieved the historic feat of 100 Tests, with former stars Sachin Tendulkar and Mohammad Kaif paying tribute.
13:17 (IST)
Day 1 of the third Test also marked veteran pacer Ishant Sharma's 100th Test appearance. On Wednesday, he was accorded a guard of honour by his teammates after being felicitated by President Ram Nath Kovind and Home Minister Amit Shah.
13:08 (IST)
Diverting from the India-England contest for now, veteran batsman Martin Guptill returned to form with a blistering 97 as New Zealand held on for a nail-biting win over Australia in the second Twenty20 international in Dunedin earlier on Thursday. Guptill's Black Caps set Australia a challenging target of 220 after losing the toss but were made to sweat as Australia came within four runs of victory.
13:01 (IST)
India left-arm spinner Axar Patel on Wednesday said his plan to bowl wicket-to-wicket on a "skidding" Motera surface reaped rich dividends for him on the opening day of the day-night third Test against England. Axar said he was confident of doing well in Ahmedabad after his performance in the second Test in Chennai, where he picked up a five-wicket haul in his debut.
12:50 (IST)
England were left frustrated with some "50-50" umpiring decisions which did not go in their favour on the opening day of the day-night third Test against India here on Wednesday, opener Zak Crawley said. He was asked particularly about TV umpire overturning onfield umpire's 'out' call of opener Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma given not out of a stumping appeal off the bowling of Jack Leach towards end of the day's play.
Here's that and more on what Crawley said after the first day's play.
12:38 (IST)
As much as he did get the ball to grip and turn, all of Axar Patel’s six wickets on Day 1 came off deliveries that finished in line with stumps. There was wide-ranging pace (from the low-80s to the high-90s), there were well-executed plans; the pitch was a mere accomplice.
Click here to read Yash Jha's analysis from the opening night.
12:25 (IST)
Hello and welcome to the coverage of Day 2 of the 3rd Test between India and England in Ahmedabad. Day 1 belonged to India as they bowled England out for 112 and then made it to stumps trailing by just 13 runs and seven wickets in hand. Axar Patel was the star of the show as he scalped six wickets. Rohit Sharma then played an impressive knock of 57 not out as India finished on 99/3 at stumps. Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane are the overnight batsmen and would be looking to further strengthen India's position and lay the path for a big lead. England, on the other hand, will have to come out all guns firing in order to stay alive in this match. Another fascinating day awaits us.
India vs England, Live Cricket Score, 3rd Test Live Updates: Hello and welcome to the coverage of Day 2 of the 3rd Test between India and England in Ahmedabad. Day 1 belonged to India as they bowled England out for 112 and then made it to stumps trailing by just 13 runs and seven wickets in hand.
Day 1 report: Axar Patel claimed six wickets as India gained the upper hand in their crucial day-night third Test against England on Wednesday, bowling out their rivals for 112 and then getting within 13 runs of taking the lead.
Only the loss of captain Virat Kohli in the final over spoiled the opening day for India as they moved to 99 for three at the world's biggest cricket stadium with Rohit Sharma on 57 and Ajinkya Rahane on one.
Spin bowlers again dominated with Patel taking the starring role while England's Jack Leach claimed two wickets, including Kohli for 27.
The Indian captain saw one tough chance dropped by Ollie Pope on 24 but soon after played Leach's left-arm spin onto his stumps and walked off visibly furious with himself.
Patel said the pink ball "skids" more off the pitch giving him more opportunity to get more lbw decisions. Three England victims went leg before.
After taking five wickets on his debut in India's crushing win in the second of the four Tests, Patel said he had carried his "confidence" into the pink-ball game.
With the series poised at 1-1 England won the toss and chose to bat but survived only 48.4 overs.
Patel linked up with Ravichandran Ashwin, who took three wickets, while fast bowler Ishant Sharma, playing his 100th Test, claimed one.
Amid a general collapse, Zak Crawley, returning after missing two tests through injury, top-scored with 53.
Captain Joe Root (17) Ben Foakes (12) and Jofra Archer (11) were the only others to get into double figures.
Crawley put up some resistance with his fourth Test fifty and a 47-run third-wicket stand with Root.
Sharma fifty and pitch invader
Ashwin claimed the England captain with another lbw.
Root reviewed the call but replays showed the ball would have hit the top of leg stump and he left the field to loud cheers from the home crowd.
Crawley said England's batting specialists had let down their bowlers.
"I don't think it will require a miracle actually," he added, however, on the prospects of an England fightback.
"Things will have to go our way, we are going to have to play extremely well but we are very capable."
Crawley predicted that the pitch will continue to break up which could help England's bowlers.
"If we bat well in the third innings and put a bit of pressure on them we can defend anything if the pitch continues to get worse."
England hit back with two wickets after Jofra Archer sent back Shubman Gill for 11 and Cheteshwar Pujara fell for a duck off Leach.
But Sharma stood firm for his 12th Test fifty and put on 64 runs with Kohli, delighting the crowd at India's revamped venue with a capacity of 110,000 fans.
Only half the tickets have been put on sale due to the coronavirus pandemic and a turnout of over 30,000 was reported on the opening day.
India's innings witnessed drama after the new LED lights went off for two minutes in the second over and then for 30 seconds in the 12th.
A young pitch invader also made his way onto the field in the final session and attempted to get close to Kohli before being escorted away by security guards.
England were frustrated by two TV umpire calls, including a stumping chance of Sharma, on 53, and a Ben Stokes catch that was turned down early in the innings.
Root had a long conversation with the on-field umpire on both occasions. He was heard calling for "consistency".
With inputs from AFP
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