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Mohali - Ravichandran Ashwin rattled England's top order
with three wickets to leave them reeling on 78 for four at stumps on day three
of the third Test on Monday, still trailing India by 56.
The visitors had earlier conceded a 134-run first-innings
lead after India's lower-order batsmen gave the hosts control of the game in
Mohali.
At close of play Joe Root (36) and nightwatchman Gareth
Batty (0) were at the crease.
Ashwin drew first blood, getting England skipper Alastair
Cook bowled for 12.
The England skipper had been living dangerously, with two
lbw calls against him going for reviews, first by India and then by the batsman
himself. But he survived only to see his stumps shattered later on.
England were already hurt by the absence of teenage opener
Haseeb Hameed, who is in danger of missing the series with a hand injury and
has yet to bat in this innings.
Ashwin kept up the pressure from his end as he bamboozled
Moeen Ali (5) with a flighted delivery, causing the batsman to give away a
catch to mid-on.
Root, who opened in place of Hameed, tried to steady the
innings with Jonny Bairstow, but the wicketkeeper-batsman's resistance did not
last long.
Off-spinner Jayant Yadav got Bairstow, who top-scored with a
dogged 89 in England's first innings of 283 but this time was caught behind for
15.
An unrelenting Ashwin, the world's top-ranked Test bowler,
soon trapped Ben Stokes lbw for five as the visitors slipped further.
Earlier the Indian innings saw five half-centuries before
the hosts, who resumed the day on 271-6, were bowled out for 417 in the
afternoon session.
Ravindra Jadeja top-scored with a dominant 90 while Jayant
Yadav's 55 - his maiden fifty in only his second game - gave the England
bowlers a frustrating two sessions of play.
Seam bowler Stokes claimed his third Test five-wicket haul
while leg-spinner Adil Rashid took four wickets.
Jadeja, who registered his career-best Test score surpassing
his 68 at Lord's in 2014, fell 10 runs short of his maiden Test ton. But his
80-run stand with Jayant Yadav underpinned India's impressive lower-order
performance.
The left-handed Jadeja, who started the day on 31, took over
responsibility for piloting the innings after the fall of his overnight partner
Ashwin for 72.
Ashwin's wicket ended a 97-run seventh-wicket stand between
him and Jadeja. The pair had lifted India after the loss of four wickets in the
final session on Sunday.
Skipper Virat Kohli (62) and Cheteshwar Pujara (51) also contributed half-centuries.
