England 290-5 against India at lunch on third day of third test
Cricket
The five-test series remains poised at 1-1
RAJKOT, India (Reuters) - India, despite spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's absence, claimed three wickets in the morning session to reduce England to 290-5 at lunch on day three of the third test between the sides on Saturday.
India, who posted 445 in the first innings, are left with 10 players for the last three days of the match after Ashwin withdrew on Friday night with a family emergency.
England skipper Ben Stokes (39) found himself tasked with rebuilding the innings in his 100th test, with Ben Foakes (six) at the other end.
Joe Root (18) has not been in great form in this series and his lean run continued as he tried a reverse shot against Jasprit Bumrah and Yashasvi Jaiswal pouched a tricky catch in second slip.
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India soon tasted another success when Kuldeep Yadav trapped Jonny Bairstow lbw for a duck with a delivery that sharply spun. The batsman wasted a review trying to get the decision overturned.
Duckett got a reprieve when Rohit Sharma floored a tough catch in the slips but the batsman, who brought up his 150 in 139 balls, could not make the most of it.
The left-hander fell to a delivery from Kuldeep, which Duckett slapped to Shubman Gill at cover. Duckett's rapid 153 contained two sixes and 23 fours.
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Kuldeep otherwise bowled a terrific spell with not only the English batsmen but even India's wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel struggling to read him.
The five-test series remains poised at 1-1.
