England Hit 578 (Root 218, Sibley 87, Stokes 82) and 178 (Ashwin 6-61) India 337 (Pant 91, Sundar 85 *, Pujara 73, Bess 4-76) and 192 (Kohli 72, Leach 4-76) with 227 runs
England beat 227 runs over India in Chennai thanks to a fourth-innings bowling performance, with Jack Leach and James Anderson taking seven wickets on the final day in the final. effect before tea.
After removing Rohit Sharma on the fourth afternoon, Leach hit the first blow on the fifth morning by pulling a fringe from Cheteshwar Pujara, and returned to help mop up the tail, but was e Anderson’s superstition before lunch tore India’s central order. winning in motion.
With the ball turning back and holding low from distance, Anderson kicked the cartwheeling stump off the ground twice in his first turn of the day to remove Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane, and he took an advanced edge from Rishabh Pant to leave him 5-3-6-3 figures in a spell that explained the day.
Despite innings close to 72 of Virat Kohli’s near miss, India lost by losing five wikis in the first session, and after a grubber from Ben Stokes sculpted. under Kohli’s bat, Leach and Archer completed the work to seal the sixth series. away wins for England. This was just India’s second loss at home since they lost the series 2-1 to England in late 2012, leaving them in need of at least two wins and a draw in all three. remaining games if they are to reach the World Test Championship (WTC). last.
Gill had started the day by working on the first ball he faced for four through a midwicket, punishing Leach when he fell a short fraction. But if India had hoped that would be a sign of things to come, there was early evidence that the playing field would not be easy to prove: Gill had to put a bat down on a bullet from Leach, and was hit with an extra kick from her length two views later, while Jofra Archer found inconsistencies in behavior while bowling to Pujara.
Pujara’s wicket looked so crucial, both after his efforts in Australia and with his impressive record against left-arm spinning. But he was gone within half an hour: he closed his face watching Leach work into the side of the leg, but the ball turned and kicked to remove the shoulder of the stick and bend up to Stokes at a slope.
Gill continued to score freely, picking up the loose balls of Dom Bess and reaching a fluent half-century, at which point Root threw the ball to Anderson, hoping to get it back. He could. His second ball was full, and he went in from outside the stump. He broke the gap between Gill’s bat and cap, and fell into the stump where he set cartwheeling and England into eager celebrations.
But Anderson was not satisfied with one break. The fourth member of Rahane who was taken over the block, again going in towards the stumps from a width on the crest and holding low. Umpire Nitish Menon was not moved and so England reconsidered, and although the ball was shown to fall into the bottom of the middle, the decision was accepted with his influence. expressed as ‘the call of the umpire’.
There was no doubt about his next member. Anderson again went very full, expecting a moving move from the returning ball, and again sculpting through the gap between bat and cap. The ball kept low again, pushing into a stump off Rahane and pushing it out of his thigh. He left India four down inside the first, and with their hopes of saving the game hanging with a thread.
Anderson struck again in his spells, and Pant could not continue with a rich form. After turning the ball back both ways, Anderson ran his fingers down the side of the ball as he threw a full, and Pant, shaping could not work legally, but his go wrong to Root at the short cover through an advanced edge.
Bess returned after the first inconsistent spell, and once Kohli – who looked in good view from the start of his innards – was beaten for four off full throws, he pulled a thin margin from Washington. Sundar, moving forward outside of it, who. was presented for review.
Kohli represented the last hope in India, striking out three full-back throws from Bess wayward before lunch and lifting Archer down the ground for a crisp four. The archer chased Ashwin on the plate before hitting him on the fist and the helmet badge, but the Indians got into the break of six down.
After lunch, Leach again found an extra kick from distance to catch Ashwin behind him, shaping his cut but succeeding by moving through to Buttler behind the stocks. Kohli had not misplaced a leg, but was knocked out by a Stokes hunter who came out of the rough and put the stump back off, and after Leach Shahbaz caught Nadeem at a foolish time to capturing his fourth and England’s ninth, Archer sealed the win as Jasprit Bumrah left behind.
England were lively, winning Asia’s sixth Test on the kick and their 11th in a row with Root as captain, helping him move level with Michael Vaughan with 26 wins, mostly by an English captain. Questions about the timing of his probation were made academic by clinical bowling performance on the final day, and his side are now 1-0 up in a row they entered as outsiders.
Matt Roller is assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. He tweets at @ mroller98