DHARAMSALA (Reuters) – Zak Crawley gave England a decent start but the tourists lost vice-captain Ollie Pope on the stroke of lunch and slipped to 100-2 on the opening day of the fifth and final test against India on Thursday.
Crawley was batting on 61, his fourth half-century of the series, while Kuldeep Yadav claimed the wickets of both Pope (11) and opener Ben Duckett (27).
England captain Ben Stokes elected to bat on a belter of a track at the picturesque Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in the foothills of the Himalayas.
India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who was rested in the previous test in Ranchi, returned to trouble the England openers with the moving new ball.
Crawley, then on 29, was adjudged not out to Mohammed Siraj after being rapped on the pad, which prompted a vociferous lbw appeal.
India reviewed the decision but could not get rid of the batter and England reached the 50-mark in the 15th over.
Left-arm wrist-spinner Kuldeep broke the 64-run stand in his first over when he dismissed Duckett with Shubman Gill taking a spectacular catch.
The opener wanted to clear the leg side ropes but ended up offering a leading edge over the cover position. Gill turned and sprinted 20 yards before diving full length to land with the ball secure in his grip.
Crawley survived another review before bringing up his 64-ball fifty but England suffered a late blow when Kuldeep had Pope stumped for 11.
Pope could not read Kuldeep's googly and was so far down the track that Dhruv Jurel had all the time in the world to stump him.
Batter Devdutt Padikkal is making his test debut in the match for India, who hold an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.