London: Indian bowlers put up an emphatic display to beat England by 157 runs in the fourth Test at the Oval here Monday. Chasing a victory target of 367 in the fourth innings, the hosts were bowled out for 210 runs in their second innings. All the Indian bowlers except Mohammed Siraj featured in the wickets’ tally as Virat Kohli’s man will now not lose the series.
Resuming at 77 without loss, England went to lunch at 131 for two. However, the turning point of the match happened between lunch and tea when England lost four wickets in just 3.5 overs while adding just five runs. Haseeb Hameed (63, 193b, 6×4) and Moeen Ali (0) were picked up by Ravindra Jadeja while Jasprit Bumrah disturbed the castles of Ollie Pope (2) and Jonny Bairstow (0). Suddenly the hosts were staring at defeat after slumping to 146 for six from 141 for two in the space of 23 deliveries. .
In the process Bumrah also became the quickest among Indian pacers to reach the 100-wicket mark in Tests. The legendary Kapil Dev had achieved the milestone in 25 Tests.
Earlier in the morning Shardul Thakur had sent back the resolute Rory Burns (50, 125b, 5×4) to end the 100-run opening stand and bring back on track. What a match Shardul had as then late in the afternoon he bowled England skipper Joe Root (36) off the inside edge. Root was proving to be the stumbling block, but Shardul opened the floodgates.
In spite of the win, the benching of Ravichandran Ashwin on what is traditionally known to be a spinners’ pitch in England will always be questioned. Virat Kohli, may have got away with this one, but there is no doubt, that had Ashwin been there on a fifth day pitch, he would have certainly posed some questions to England.
Brief scores: India 191 and 466 beat England 290 and 210 (Haseeb Hameed 63, Rory Burns 50, Umesh Yadav 3/60, Shardul Thakur 2/22, Jasprit Bumrah 2/27, Ravindra Jadeja 2/50) by 157 runs
