An heroic half century from Haseeb Hameed was the bright spot of an otherwise dark day for England as they succumbed to the inevitable in Mohali to go 2-0 down in the series.
The youngster, who needs surgery on a hand injury and will miss the rest of the tour, completed his second Test half ton with a flurry of boundaries as he helped England to 236 all out, a meagre lead of 103.
Though India lost Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara on their way to victory, Parthiv Patel hit an unbeaten 67 to duly secure an eight-wicket win. The hosts are two up in the series with two to play.
England’s miracle quest got off to a bad start eight balls into the day. Gareth Batty lasted just two deliveries, as he was pinned in front by Ravindra Jadeja for 0. Jos Buttler came out to join Root and got off the mark with a beautifully controlled straight six off the left arm spinner. The pair put on a brisk 29 before Buttler’s attacking intent proved his downfall.
He came down the track to Jayant Yadav and attempted to hit straight but only succeeded in picking out Jadeja on the mid on fence.
Despite not fielding due to an injured finger, Hameed came out to bat at number eight, all his powers of patience required for England to retain any sliver of hope. He took 19 balls to get off the mark as India tested him with an array of short balls while at the other end Root went to his 25th Test half century and his second slowest, brought up off 147 balls.
Kohli waited until after the drinks break to introduce Ravi Ashwin and he brought an edge from Hameed with just his second ball, Patel unable to claim after quite a deviation from the bat. Root pierced the field with a handsome drive off Ashwin to ensure India would have to bat again and the lead was 18 by the time a superb one-handed catch at slip from Ajinkya Rahane off Jadeja removed him for 78.
Resuming on 156-7 after lunch, a lead of 22, Woakes quickly overtook Hameed with a succession of cuts through the covers but was rattled when a Mohammed Shami bouncer hit him on the helmet shortly after the new ball had been taken.
Another bumper next ball saw him glove the ball to Patel. Two deliveries later, Adil Rashid took on another Shami short ball but deposited the cherry into the hands of Umesh Yadav just short of the long leg perimeter. Jimmy Anderson joined his fellow Lancastrian at the crease and Hameed resolved to open his shoulders, slog sweeping both Ashwin and Jadeja for brilliant boundaries.
He went to his second Test half century with another, launched into the stands for six. By that stage he had clocked up 33 runs from 37 balls. But his fun was cut short on 59 when Anderson was run out.
Woakes struck early to remove Vijay for a duck but Patel was in no mood to hang around, upper cutting Stokes for four and then slogging Rashid back over his head for six on his way to a fifth Test half century.
Pujara fell for 25 as he top-edged a sweep shot to Joe Root to hand Rashid his fifth scalp of the match but Patel sealed England’s fate with a lofted drive off Batty to finish on 67 not out.