India started the third day of the third Test in Mohali at 271/6, 12 runs behind England. At the end of the first session, they had swelled their lead to 71, having lost only one wicket and looking good for more.

All England’s hopes of getting any sort of advantage was swiftly washed away by Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Ashwin, having got a half-century on Day 2, went in the same vein but played an airy drive on 72 to be pouched by Jos Buttler in the off-side. His 72 had come off only 113 balls at a very healthy strike rate of 63 and the two had forged a partnership of 97.

But Jadeja, playing uncharacteristically differently from his usual “hit or miss” approach, showed patience and aggression in equal measure to get to only his third fifty of his Test career and then the highest Test score of his career. A frustrated England resorted to bowling wide outside the off stump to stop the flow of runs, but India carried the lead forward. To add to Alastair Cook’s woes, Jayant Yadav, who followed Ashwin, showed no signs of slowing down, looking solid in defence and stroking three boundaries to get to an unbeaten 26.

Brief scores:

England 283 trail India 354/7 (Ravichandran Ashwin 72, Ravindra Jadeja 70 not out; Ben Stokes 3/65, Adil Rashid 3/101) by 71 runs