England vs India 5th Test.
India: 148 and 94.
England: 486
England win by an Innings and 244 runs.
England completed a stunning turnaround in style as they thrashed India before even Three Days of Cricket had been completed, wrapping up a 3-1 series win.
India were skittled out for 148 and 94, meaning that they have now gone five consecutive Innings without scoring 200 runs or more, as two excellent England bowling performances, coupled with some wretched batting from the tourists, meant that England have won three consecutive test matches, having previously gone ten matches without a win.
In the first Innings the England bowling attack shared the spoils: Anderson took 2-51; Broad took 2-27; Woakes took 3-30 and Jordan took 3-32, with the youngsters really starting to prove their potential. Only captain MS Dhoni put in a performance to be proud of: he scored a belligerent 82 as every other Indian batsman failed to score above 18, and India needed to bowl aggressively if they were to stand any chance of drawing the series.
However, England romped to 486 all out, the last 11.3 overs of the Innings going for 101 runs as the Indian bowlers were well and truly broken. Alastair Cook continued his grind back to form as he scored 79; Gary Ballance continued his excellent run of form with a determined 64; Buttler, Jordan and Broad scored 102 off 127 balls between them as they supported the main act of England’s performance: Joe Root’s stunning 149 not out. The Yorkshireman is really proving that he is England’s future and his brilliant 518 runs in this series made him the top scorer out of both sides.
And then, as India began their second Innings, the writing was truly on the wall as they were torn apart by the England bowlers, particularly Chris Jordan, who took a staggering 4-18, barely registering a scintilla of resistance; perhaps the only exception being Stuart Binny’s 25 not out. Chris Jordan will be very happy with his 7-50 match figures and he could well be a long-term feature for the England Cricket team in the future. At just twenty-five years old he has a long career ahead of him and, should he carry on improving, his International career could be a very successful one indeed.
As for India, it seems that MS Dhoni and Alastair Cook have switched places since the Lord’s Test, with people now suggesting that it is now time for Dhoni to hand over the captaincy. Let’s hope that the BCCI do not opt for this knee-jerk decision, as one bad series in England- a place where India have struggled for many years- does not mean that a captain has lost his touch. Had this result occurred in India then Dhoni would have no sympathy from me whatsoever. However, the whole Indian Cricket setup must be changed with regards to away fixtures, particularly in England.
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