Recent Match Report – India vs England, England tour of India, 4th Test،
India 307 (Jurel 90, Jaiswal 73, Bashir 5-119) and 192 for 5 (Rohit 55, Gill 52*, Jurel 39*, Bashir 3-79) batted England 353 (Root 122*, Robinson 58, Jadeja 4-67) and 145 (Crawley 60, Ashwin 5-51, Kuldeep 4-22) by five wickets
India, led by the sixth-wicket stand of Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel, withstood England's threat to win the fourth Test in four days and clinch the series 3-1 with one to play.
After Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal started India's chase magnificently, they suffered a substantial swing, losing five wickets for 36 runs in 20.5 overs to be 120 for 5, needing another 72 runs for victory . But an unbroken partnership between Gill and Jurel, the latter playing only his second Test, brought them home.
England's young spinners, Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley, bowled with great maturity to make India work in the second hour of the morning session after a good start when they resumed on 40 without loss, needing 152 more. Bashir gave India a scare by adding three wickets in his first five innings.
But ultimately England had left India with too little to do after Jurel took India within reach in the first innings with his 90 and England were bowled out for 145 in the second – thanks to R Ashwin's five for and Kuldeep Yadav's four – setting India a victory target of 192 with two and a bit days remaining. They needed a little more than half a day.
Bazball is more than a 'vibe', it's a philosophy with a proven Test series record of four triumphs, three draws and no defeats – so far. But it was the atmosphere that kept England believing almost until the very end.
Perhaps that's why India were so wary, having lost three wickets in 8.5 overs.
After James Anderson's mid-air catch at third short to remove Jaiswal, who has been so impressive in this series, India made just 34 runs in 19.3 overs till lunch. Perhaps that was why India had the jitters after the break, with Ravindra Jadeja bowling a full toss straight to mid-wicket to give Bashir his first of two wickets in two balls. Perhaps that's why, when Ben Foakes could be heard shouting “we're at a bang-bang, boys” when India needed just 27 more, the England fans could be forgiven to think “just maybe”.
But India have a proven track record, having not lost a Test series at home in over 11 years.
On Monday morning, they achieved their target, adding 42 runs in the first eight overs of the day. Rohit slammed Anderson for six at mid-off to take his team past fifty, leaving them with 140 more to get. He and Jaiswal performed sweeps and reverse sweeps against Bashir and Hartley while maintaining the boundary count.
But Joe Root interrupted their stand on 84, extracting a bit of sleight of hand with a full delivery, hampering Jaiswal's attempt to clear extra cover as his outside edge flew towards short third and Anderson threw his self of 41 years ahead for a fully expandable grip.
Hartley took Rohit out of his crease with an outside ball that lightly kissed the edge before sailing into the gloves of Foakes. Even without the benefit, Rohit would have been out for 55 years as Foakes withdrew the leases with him still off his field and the dismissal was originally seen as a stalemate before UltraEdge revealed a slight spike.
Bashir removed Rajat Patidar for a six-ball duck next when his length ball came from off stump to the inside edge and skipped to Ollie Pope at backward short leg via the knee roll. This continued a poor streak for Patidar, who reached double figures only twice and went past 30 once in six innings.
India went to lunch with 74 with seven wickets in hand. Then, Bashir swayed England's momentum with wickets off consecutive balls in the second over after the interval. He had Jadeja caught by Jonny Bairstow on a full toss, then flicked one from outside off, beating Sarfaraz Khan's defensive prod to take a slight edge off the cushion and into the hands of Pope at short leg rearward.
Jurel survived the hat-trick ball and when he bowled a full, wide delivery from Bashir through the covers, it was India's first boundary right off the bat in 31 overs, and completed his task in less than 50 points.
From there, he and Gill got to work, steadily racking up the runs they needed. Jurel initially took the lead in their union, reaching 32 from 70 balls before Gill, with 39 from 119, broke away. With 20 runs needed, Gill bowled Bashir to long-off and then, two balls later, brought up his fifty by clearing the fence at deep mid-wicket.
Jurel got into the act, pulling Hartley at mid-off for four, and it was he who took the winning runs, bowling a Hartley delivery over his legs as he and Gill ran two over.
Jurel's first innings was also vital to India's victory. Only he and Jaiswal, with 73, passed 40 for India as they chased down England's 353, led by Joe Root's return to form during an unbeaten century. Jurel came in with his side on 161 for 5 and saw Sarfaraz and Ashwin fall before putting on a 76-run stand with Kuldeep and putting on another 40 with No. 10 Akash Deep, who was making his Test debut. By the time Jurel was the last player out, India had made 307 runs and reduced the deficit to just 46.
Bashir and Hartley shared eight wickets between them in India's first innings and England struggled to build enough buffer when they returned to bat. But Zak Crawley's half-century was the only notable contribution as England's batters accumulated three ducks and Bairstow was the only other to hit beyond 20. This left India with a target that turned out to be as feasible as it seemed, with plenty of intrigue thrown in.
