The target was different but the story remained the same as India secured a thumping win over England. England’s batsmen showed some fight on the fourth day with Joe Root and Haseeb Hameed scoring fifties but India’s bowlers never let the advantage slip.
The victory on the fourth day was set up by the bowlers early in the first session. England started the day still trailing by 56 runs but before they could come level, they had already lost two wickets. It took Ravindra Jadeja only two deliveries on the day to get rid of the nightwatchman, Gareth Batty, trapping him LBW with one that went straight on. Buttler who came in for Duckett tried to be positive by lofting jadeja over the ropes. But the move went in vain as he couldn’t show resistance for longer periods. Kohli placed a man at straightish deep mid wicket towards the boundary line. Buttler took the bait, coming down the track and going through with a lofted shot but ended up holing out to Jadeja placed in the deep.
At the other end, Root continued to be patient and added 14 more to his overnight score to bring up his 25th Test fifty. Hameed and Root added 45 runs for the eighth wicket, taking England into the lead as well. However, with just ten minutes to go for the lunch break, Root took a chance to drive against a flighted delivery from Jadeja but ended up nicking it, and Ajinkya Rahane at slip, stuck his left hand out to take a catch that left him quite stunned.The second new ball, taken in the 82nd over, sparked this turnaround. Mohammed Shami struck Woakes flush on the helmet with a bouncer as the batsman was looking to pull, sending a strap of his helmet flying out. The next one was as sharp a bouncer as the previous one. This time Woakes didn’t go for a full-blooded pull. He fended at it instead and offered a simple catch to the wicket-keeper, ending the 43-run stand. Shami now had found a useful wicket-taking option and gave it another rip with Rashid facing just his second ball. The batsman, going for a pull, and holed out to fine leg.
The last wicket took a little long as Hameed showed some resistance along with Anderson.He played his shots and took single off the last ball to protect the tailender. But that didn’t last long as anderson was run out by some brilliance in the field by jadeja. India were set a target of 103.India’s chase started off on a false note with Vijay edging a short ball to second slip, off Woakes, in just the second over. Parthiv and Pujara got going with a flurry of boundaries, taking India to 33 for one in just six overs before Tea.Patel continued in the same tempo even after the break, stroking his way to a 39-ball fifty, his fifth in Tests, and making sure that he too made a mark in his comeback Test. When Pujara fell, top edging a sweep to short fine leg against Rashid, India were just 15 short of victory. It came soon after, in emphatic fashion, with Patel lofting Root over cover a boundary, and ensuring that India remained unbeaten for a 16th consecutive game.
The next test starts on December 8 in Mumbai followed by the last one in chennai on 16.