'SPIN'credible India Overpower England | India vs England 4th Test Match Review |

 

After a triumphant showcase in the third match of the Test Series, India needed a win or at best a draw in order to confirm their ticket to Lord's; where the Finals of the World Test Championship will be held. After three days of players metaphorically fighting for the glory of their country through blood, sweat and dirt, India managed to overpower the English side by a significant margin, etching it's name in the record books. How did it all unfold? Read the article to find out just how.  

Playing XI : India was forced to make a change as Jasprit Bumrah, who was unavailable for the match was replaced with Mohammad Siraj. England, on the other hand, had made a couple of changes. Daniel Lawrence and Dominic Bess were back in the playing XI in place of Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad. 

England 1st Innings : ENGLISH BATTING FAILS YET AGAIN

After winning the toss on back to back occasions, the English skipper, Joe Root chose to bat first. The Indian bowlers, namely Axar Patel and Mohammad Siraj didn't let the batsmen settle on the crease for long as England lost three early wickets in the form of Crawley (9) , Sibley (2) and Root (5) as England were struggling at 30-3. Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow tried to control the collapse of the English innings by building a decent partnership. The duo added 48 runs before Bairstow (28) was removed from the middle by an unplayable delivery from Siraj. Joined in by the "second coming of Ian Bell"; Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes helped England go over the 100-run barrier. Pope (29) played a cruicial role in building match-saving partnerships with first Ben Stokes (55) and then Daniel Lawrence (46) helping England post a respectable total of 205 in the tricky conditions. The batting line-up was once again taken down bit by bit by the prolific spin duo of Axar (26-7-68-4) and Ashwin (19.5-4-47-3). Mohammad Siraj picked up a brace as well as the bowling department did exactly what was asked from them. 

India 1st Innings : HAVING A LONG TAIL IS NEVER A BAD IDEA

The Indian opening duo of Rohit and Gill were welcomed by a motivated James Anderson, who added yet another scalp to his legendary tally of 600+ test wickets, removing Gill for a duck. Pujara and Rohit batted till Stumps before walking in to bat in the early hours of Day 2. Pujara (17) was removed yet again by Jack Leach as he looked lost in the middle throughout his innings. Ben Stokes, at the other end, upped the ante by removing skipper Virat for a duck as India looked to be in troubled waters at 41-3. Ajinkya Rahane came in next with a counter-attacking approach. He took to the opposition and hit a flurry of offence before his short cameo of 27 came to an end, courtesy of Jimmy Anderson. At 80-4 and the confidence of the Englishmen at a soaring height, came in Rishabh Pant. Pant settled himself in the crease while Rohit was hitting the ball with ease. Sharma (49 off 144) missed out on a well deserved half-century as Ben Stokes got him out via LBW. Ashwin (13) walked in next but couldn't make much of a difference with the bat as England were ready to seal the deal. Little did they know that Pant and Sundar had other ideas. From 146-6, the two left handers showed exemplary batting skills against the powers at be and took India's total over the required margin. Pant, especially, outjogged the Englishmen and managed to reach his first century in his homeland. He was dismissed by Anderson for 101 as India looked comfortable at 259-7. Axar Patel and Washington Sundar both played innings of great solidarity, putting up a valuable 106 runs to the tally. Axar Patel was run out on 43 while Sundar remained not out till the very end, in a great showing of 96 runs, whilst India's innings was halted at 365. Stokes was the pick amongst the bowlers as he registered figures of 27.4-6-89-4 while Anderson picked three and Leach picked a couple of wickets as well. 

England 2nd Innings : CHECKMATE

Trialing by a massive margin of 160 runs in such tricky conditions of Day 3 is never easy for any opposition and it proved to be exactly the case here. Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel totally ran through the English Team all by themselves as no one looked comfortable to bat in the middle. Joe Root's 30 and Daniel Lawrence's 50 were the only recognizable attempts by the English Players in an effort to prolong the inevitable defeat. There was not a single 50+ partnership which briefly explains the fact how the spin duo sabotaged England's batting. Apart from the aforementioned duo, only Ben Foakes (13) managed to get to double figures as the visitors watched their team succumb to the defeat helplessly. This was all made possible by the commendable efforts of two of the finest spin bowlers in Test Cricket right now, Axar and Ashwin. Both of them picked a 5-fer each with Axar ending with figures of 24-6-48-5 and Ashwin with that of 22.5-4-47-5. 

England were bowled out for just 135 runs as India beat England by an innings and 25 runs, winning the Anthony De Mello Trophy by 3-1. 

Conclusion : India completely outplayed England in all three aspects of the game and registered it's name in the finals of the WTC Finals. Rishabh Pant finally fulfilled his prophecy and scored a test century at home. His vastly improved wicket keeping skills has impressed one and all watching the game. The 23-year old's recent heroics in the longer format of the game has made sure he's India's no. 1 pick as a wicket-keeper. Rohit was the only bright spark in India's batting throughout the series as problems still linger in the middle order. He was the glue holding the batting unit together from falling apart. The prolific spin attack set the difference between the two sides throughout the series as Axar and Ashwin have proved to be the best in the business. With such positives and a few aspects to work on, India is ready to take on New Zealand as the fate of the World Test Championship hangs in the balance at Lord's. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, the winners of the Anthony de Mello Trophy - Team India 🇮🇳

Side Note : I won't be reviewing the T20I matches between India and England because of my semester exams. See you soon with my review of the ODI matches.