Ahmedabad: England’s inability to play ensured that India booked their ticket to the World Cup final (WTC) final a little early, and the fourth and final Test victory with innings and 25 runs on just the third day of the fourth and final Test Saturday ended.
The result ensured that India won the series 3-1, and came back remarkably after losing the first Test.
After Rishabh Pant tipped the scales in favor of the hosts with a formidable century on Friday, Washington Sundar (96 not out) and Axar Patel (43) rubbed it in further and one and a half hours at the fold stayed. which blew away the hope that England had to return on Friday night.
The two batted 91 minutes on Saturday morning and frustrated England for 20.4 overs to take the game further away as India finished at 365, which was 160 runs ahead of the visiting team.
The lead was too much for England, who had to get 67 overs on the third day. And they succumbed to pressure, although the surface did not play as many tricks as during the previous two Test matches.
Between lunch and tea, India took six wickets – three each by R. Ashwin and Axar Patel, while England started the six-hour lunch without a loss, going to drink tea at 91 for six.
Their captain and mainstay Joe Root, who could not reach one fifty after his double hundred in the first Test, was also sacked for 30 in the second session and with his dismissal, England’s hopes of making a match vanished.
In honor of the Indian bowlers, they maintained a tight line and gave no space as England tried their best to get away but could not find a hold or area to score consistently.
Patel took a few more wickets shortly after the tea to complete his fourth wicket in five Test matches. It was his third five wickets in the two Tests at his home in Motera.
His series distance was at 27 in three Tests, while Ashwin was 32 scalp in four Tests. Ashwin took his third feather in the series on Saturday.
“I thought you had to change your pace a bit on this track – unlike the previous two places – to get wickets,” Patel said after the game.
By the time the day winds to an end and the shadows grow longer, it was only the little known Daniel Lawrence who gave the other English players a tutorial on how to play. After his 46 in the first innings, he made 50 – his half-century coming off 93 balls, in the second, and trying to give England a consolation to get India to bat again. With no support, he failed.
England: 205 and 135 (Daniel Lawrence 50, Joe Root 30, R. Ashwin 5/47, Axar Patel 5/48); India: 365 (Rishabh Pant 101, Washington Sundar 96 not out, Rohit Sharma 49, Axar Patel 43, Ben Stokes 4/89, James Anderson 3/44)
Result: India wins by an innings and 25 runs
Source: Telangana Today