Peaky blunders: England collapse again as India turn screw in Dharamsala

The hills of Dharamsala were alive with the sound of music but not even the eclectic blend of power ballads and dad rock pumped from the speakers between overs could soften the sense of dread among the England supporters at this postcard perfect ground.

As they sat there on day one of this bucket list fifth Test, puffer jackets zipped up despite the Kangra Valley being bathed in bright spring sunshine, they watched Ben Stokes and his men turn in a performance that somewhat undermined the captain’s rebuttal of departure lounge syndrome being a risk with the series already lost to India.

Related: India v England: fifth Test, day one – as it happened

Plenty had gone England’s way, too, not least Stokes winning the toss on a surface he dubbed a “belter”. And yet with the snow-capped Himalayan peaks behind him, Kuldeep Yadav’s bewitching five-wicket display, plus four for Ravichandran Ashwin to start his 100th Test appearance, saw the tourists bowled out for 218 in just 57.4 overs. The nadir? A veritable avalanche of five for eight in just 36 balls after lunch.

Consolation barely materialised before stumps either, India racing to 135 for one in 30 overs through Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 52. Shoaib Bashir snared Yashasvi Jaiswal, stumped, but not before the left-hander had pumped three sixes from the off-spinner’s opening over en route to 57 from 58 balls. When Shubman Gill slog-swept Tom Hartley’s penultimate ball of the day over the rope, India’s dominance was simply rubber-stamped.

This one-way traffic in the final session, triggered by Sharma meatily pulling Mark Wood for six, was not entirely unexpected, particularly after such a ruinous afternoon in which England’s 175 for three went careering off the precipice. Stokes has said progress is not always measured by results and both captains have spoken of a hard-fought series. But regarding India’s spinners versus the English middle order, this has not been the case.

Kuldeep was something to behold, it should be said, his sparkling figures of five for 72 from 15 overs taking him past 50 wickets in Tests and, as just the third left-arm wrist-spinner to the mark, and in his 12th outing, reflecting mastery of what is such a rare skill. The 29-year-old allies remarkable control with drift and sharp turn, while using his googly – ie the ball that turns away the right-hander – both sparingly and to devastating effect.

There is no sentiment with it either, the wrong ‘un putting a dampener on Jonny Bairstow’s induction into the 100-cap club when, having muscled his way to 29 from just 18 balls, the Yorkshireman edged behind. This was the first of three for none in 13 balls, Ravindra Jadeja swiftly snaring Joe Root lbw on 26 – drift offsetting turn for a straight on delivery – and Kuldeep again trapping Stokes on the back foot for a duck lbw.

Thus Kuldeep’s hold over Stokes continued – three times in the last four innings, no less – even if Sharma had seen enough. With Hartley, a left-hander, the new man in at No 7, the Indian captain immediately swapped in Ashwin. What followed was probably not the plan, however, his mark picking out long-on with an ambitious attempt to clear the rope. When Wood poked his second ball from Ashwin to slip, England were 183 for eight.

Some semblance of resistance followed, Ben Foakes reaching tea with Bashir and chiseling 24 runs of his own. But Ashwin was not to be denied on this day of personal celebration, Foakes utterly crestfallen when an attempted sweep trickled back onto the stumps off his arm and last man Jimmy Anderson slamming his third ball to midwicket.

Rewind to the final over of the morning and England had given themselves a strong foothold in the match. Ben Duckett fell to an athletic running catch from Shubman Gill on 27 when attempting to drill Kuldeep back over his head but, fresh from a fifth 50-plus opening stand, and with 100 on the board, Zak Crawley was again in the groove. All he really needed was a partner to operate in his slipstream.

Cue wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel sensing what was to come, telling Kuldeep “he will step out, he will step out” regarding the newly-arrived Ollie Pope and duly whipping off the bails with quicksilver gloves when his colleague’s first pitch-perfect googly met a prophesy fulfilled. Despite 196 in Hyderabad, Pope’s frenetic starts risk being the enduring image of his tour.

Kuldeep, who missed that series opener, sees his reputation continue to swell, not least by the type of delivery that undid Crawley on 78 after the restart. It was a wrist-spinner’s dream – albeit mirror image for most of them – when the right-hander was teased into a drive by the wide line, only for the ball to rip back through the gate and into his stumps.

Crawley had survived a wonder-ball from Jasprit Bumrah early in piece and a reviewed lbw on 29 via umpire’s call. There was also tickle down leg on 61 that ballooned to Sarfaraz Khan off Jurel that could not persuade Sharma to go upstairs. But in between these strokes of fortune he laced 11 fours and one six and, having passed 400 runs in the series overall, all that has been missing is a match-defining innings.

The same cannot be said of Jaiswal, whose initial single of Wood in the reply saw him break Virat Kohli’s Indian record of 655 runs in a series against England. Bashir’s relief upon outfoxing the left-hander was palpable but, given the collapse that came before it, the task of preventing a 4-1 final scoreline is already a steep one.