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The Indian cricket team needs 381 runs on the fifth day of the ongoing Test against England after off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin scalped six wickets to end the visitors’ second innings on 178 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Monday.

The hosts were 39 for one at stumps on Day 4 with Shubman Gill (batting 15) and Cheteshwar Pujara (batting 12) at the crease after England set them a target of 420 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series.

Team India’s highest successful chase in Tests is 406/4, which came way back in 1976 in the West Indies. MS Dhoni-led India had also successfully chased 387 against England in 2008 in Chennai. 

Earlier in the day, Ashwin bagged his 28th five-wicket haul to dismiss the visitors for 178 an hour before the close of play. The 34-year-old finished with figures of 6/61.

Interestingly, Ashwin also emulated a 114-year-record after he started the proceedings for India with the new ball and also took a wicket off his first ball. The Chennai-born cricketer became just the third spinner and first since South Africa's Bert Vogler to pick up a wicket off the first ball of an innings in Tests. Vogler had registered the milestone in 1907 in a Test match against England at The Oval.

England's Bobby Peel was the first-ever spinner to take a wicket off the first delivery of an innings in 1888 in Manchester against Australia.

Meanwhile, Ishant Sharma became the third Indian pacer and the sixth Indian bowler to get to 300 Test wickets when he dismissed Daniel Lawrence

Twitter reacted to Ashwin’s five-wicket haul, Ishant reaching 300 wickets milestone in Tests and England’s delayed declaration.

England had bowled India out for 337 runs in their first innings after the visitors had posted a mammoth 578 runs in their first innings. 

Feature image courtesy: Twitter/ICC

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