Kuldeep got to 50 Test wickets after accounting for Bairstow.

Kuldeep Yadav became only the third left-arm wrist spinner to get to 50 Test wickets en route to his fourth five-wicket haul in red-ball cricket. The 29-year-old put on a spin bowling masterclass in the post-lunch session to put India firmly on top on the opening day of the fifth Test against England in Dharamsala. Dramatically, England fell from 175/3 to 183/8 in the space of just 37 deliveries.

Zak Crawley resumed his innings after lunch in a seamless manner and looked set for a deserving ton before he fell prey to a beautiful set up from Kuldeep. After varying his pace and lengths against Crawley with the odd googly thrown in between, Kuldeep produced a big-turning leg break that drifted and spun sharply to beat the opener on the drive, past the inside edge. It was a massive wicket in the context of the day's play, given how effortless Crawley had seemed at the crease during his knock of 79. The opener, however, was fortunate to survive a catch at short leg by Sarfaraz who insisted on the review, only for Rohit Sharma to deny the request. UltraEdge showed a minor spike but the blip didn't cost India a lot.

After offering considerable help to the seamers in the morning, the Dharamsala surface started to assist spin in the afternoon. It is no rank turner, though, as Crawley's innings showed. Kuldeep's genius allowed him to extract appreciable turn while Ravindra Jadeja used the skid and hold in the pitch to probe the batters. The latter of the two dealt the other big blow of the session when Jadeja had Joe Root LBW after the England mainstay misjudged a slider. These wickets swung the momentum completely and Kuldeep started to operate at high levels, making it difficult for England's batters. Jonny Bairstow decided to hit his way out of trouble and did connect a few blows before nicking a googly against Kuldeep. Ben Stokes cut a sorry figure as he struggled to read the variations before being trapped LBW to one that spun in.

In his 100th Test, Ravichandran Ashwin didn't strike in his early spell but came back in his second burst to pick up two wickets in an over. A rash shot from Tom Hartley saw him holing out to long-on while Mark Wood was dismissed for a first-ball duck to push England further back. Ben Foakes hung around with reasonable assurance but with just no.10 and no.11 for company, the England wicket-keeper bat has a lot to do. Not for the first time in the series, the tourists have collapsed from a position of potency.