NEW DELHI: Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin dished out commanding performances and helped India inflict a 10-wicket loss on England inside two days of the third Day/Night Test at the revamped stadium in Motera on Thursday.
The biggest talking point of the match though was the pitch. It was a track that both teams found very difficult to bat on. While England were bowled out for 112 and 81 in their two innings, India were skittled out for just 145 in their first innings. The end result was a result inside two days. And with that this match equalled the record of the shortest Test match ever played in terms of days.
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Virat Kohli after the match in fact said before this he has never before been part of a match where things have happened so quickly.
This is just the second time that India have managed to wrap up a Test in just two days. They registered an innings and 262 run victory vs Afghanistan in Bengaluru in 2018 also inside two days.
This match became the second pink-ball Test that finished in two days after the South Africa vs Zimbabwe match played in 2017.
Overall, there have been 21 instances, before this match, when teams emerged victorious inside two days of a Test match. But the 20th century had only witnessed six out of those 21 games which took only two days to produce results.

This is also India’s quickest Test victory in terms of balls bowled. They have finished the match in 842 deliveries.

Before 2000, the last match which finished inside two days was played 54 years before that in 1946 between New Zealand and Australia.
From 2000 to 2018 there were six instances of Test matches finishing in two days time, the shortest time in which a Test match has ever finished.
From 1946 till now, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand had featured in two instances of Test matches finishing in two days time and now India have also joined that club.
The first time a Test match finished inside two days was when Australia beat England at the Oval in 1882. Overall in the 1800s there were 9 Tests which finished inside two days. In the 1900s that figure went down to six. The first time in the 20th century that this happened was when Australia beat South Africa in Manchester. In the 21st century that figure has now gone up to 7 instances of a Test match finishing in two days.

England had been on the back foot since they were skittled out for 112 in their first innings on a turning track at the world’s largest cricket stadium.
Joe Root and Jack Leach shone with the ball to drag the tourists back into the contest by bowling out India for 145 in the hosts’ first innings.
The tourists, however, suffered a second batting collapse, shot out for 81, their lowest test score against India, to allow the hosts take charge again.
Earlier resuming on 99-3, India looked on course for a handy first-innings lead but Root (5-8) and Leach (4-54) wreaked havoc on a pitch where the ball spun viciously.