India pulls out a Heist at The Oval

India Vanquished England in the 4^th Test Match as India won the Test Match by 157 runs. India now have taken 2-1 lead in the Test Series with the final Test match to be played at Old Trafford. India won at the Oval after 50 years as in 1971 India had defeated England under the captaincy of the late Ajit Wadekar.

England had won the toss & elected to bowl first as there were overcast conditions. England once again made the most of the conditions and put India in a state of jeopardy at 127-7; but then came Shardul Thakur who went into a beast mode and scored a quick-fire half century of 57 runs in just 36 balls. It was looking as if he was playing IPL. Shami & Ishant had niggles as a result Shardul Thakur & Umesh Yadav replaced them. India managed to score 191 runs in the 1^st inning. India surprisingly made Ravindra Jadeja bat at no.5 position. Virat Kohli once again got a start but failed to convert into a big one as he got duped into the off- stump channel by Ollie Robinson.

Chris Woakes played his 1^st Test Match of the English Summer and took 4 wickets & made a statement that he is still a good red ball bowler.

In the 1^st inning England were dented as they lost 3 crucial wickets of: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed & the run machine of England “Joe Root” at the end of day’s play. The flurry of wickets just gave India a ray of hope that they have an outside chance as Jasprit Bumrah & Umesh Yadav were seen bowling thunder-bolts.

In the 2^nd Day Umesh Yadav struck two wickets and put England in a spot of bother as they were reduced to 62-5. Jonny Bairstow took the gloves as Jos Buttler took a paternity leave. Ollie Pope replaced Buttler and he along with Bairstow didn’t allow India’s bowlers to settle down. Ollie Pope made the most of the opportunity as he stitched partnerships with Bairstow & Moeen. Bairstow & Moeen provided vital contributions by scoring 30 odd runs each. Ollie Pope may have played an innings of his life as he took the team out of trouble as he scored 81 runs and at his dismissal England were having a lead of 59 runs.

Chris Woakes showcased his batting prowess as he scored a knock of 50 runs. England had taken a lead of 99 runs. There was a collective effort from all the bowlers where Virat Kohli used all the tricks in the book to trouble the batsmen.

India had an hour to play before the end of 2^nd day’s play. India went unscathed while the deficit was cut by 56 runs. India required a mammoth effort on the 3^rd Day as James Anderson & Co have the habit of spoiling the party. Rohit got a life on 31 runs by Rory Burns who didn’t hold on to the catch. Rohit Sharma made England & Root pay as he scored his maiden overseas hundred and was absolutely playing frustrating the bowlers. He scored 127 runs and at his dismissal India had a lead of 137 runs. It can now be said that Cheteshwar Pujara has brushed aside his strike rate issues as he was seen rotating the strike quite frequently. He played a fluent knock of 61 runs. At the end of 3^rd day’s play India were 270-3 with a lead of 169 runs and it looked like India would inflict a lot of damage.

On 4^th Day there were high hopes from Virat to end his jinx of century but this time he was foxed by Moeen Ali and was dismissed on 44 runs. At the dismissal of Virat’s wicket India had a lead of 211 runs. Ajinkya Rahane was under a lot of spotlights as he has not scored a significant knock for the team since this Test Series. In the 2^nd Innings he was dismissed for a golden duck; this could may be the end of road for Rahane. England sensed that they are in the game. Shardul Thakur & Rishabh Pant deepened the agony for England as both of them scored half centuries and after their dismissal the lead was 313 runs. In the end the so-called tail- enders of India irked England. India had set a target of an improbable 368 runs. Chris Woakes once again was the top performer with ball as he took 3 wickets. Before the end of day 4 England were unperturbed as they scored 77 runs and required 291 runs to win the Test Match. The pitch was placid as there was no help for the fast bowlers. England needed a momentous effort to win as the highest total to be chased at the Oval was 289 runs.

On 5^th Day Burns & Hameed were cautious. India’s bowlers used reverse swing and that paid off as Shardul Thakur bowled a peach of a delivery to send back Rory Burns who played a knock of 50 runs. Virat used Jadeja from one end and Jadeja was seen hitting the rough patches. Just before the lunch there was a run out of Dawid Malan where Haseeb Hameed tried to squeeze a single from nowhere. The equation of a victory for England looked a bit bleak. Jadeja took a big scalp of Haseeb Hameed as he was well settled and played a dodged knock of 63 runs. The wicket of Haseeb saw a tragic collapse as England lost 3 wickets for 6 runs where the wrecker in chief for India was Jasprit Bumrah. Bumrah was bowling immaculate yorker which bamboozled Bairstow. Bumrah was playing mind games as he was not at all conceding runs. His 3^rd spell of 6 overs gave away only 6 runs and he took 2 wickets of Pope & Bairstow. The captaincy of Virat was spot on as he was in ultra-attacking mode. India’s bowlers all hunted in a pack as there was no respite. The pitch was a belter where the bowlers had to toil a lot. Umesh Yadav & Shardul Thakur wrapped up the match and India won the Test Match. Shardul Thakur proved to be a X factor for India as in the 1^st inning he took the wicket of the well-set Ollie Pope & in the 2^nd inning he took the wicket of the big fish Joe Root. His contribution in the Test Match as a bowler was like a catalyst. Jasprit Bumrah became the fastest Indian pacer to take 100 wickets in 24 Test Matches beating the record of Kapil Dev who had achieved the feat in 25 Test Matches.

The task is cut out for England, they have to win the next Test Match to avoid a Series Defeat. If they want to win the next Test Match then the likes of Bairstow need to score match winning knocks. England have added Jos Buttler & Jack Leach for the 5^th Test Match; this indicates that England may play two spinners for Manchester. If England wants to Draw the Test Series, then Root should not use defensive tactics; he should not wait for things to happen instead of that make things happen.

There was a lot of buzz about the non-selection of Ravichandran Ashwin as he hasn’t played a single test match in this series as Virat is seen going for 4 pacers & Jadeja the spinner. In the post-match presentation when Virat was asked about the 2^nd spinner he said that the team is not concerned about the noise on the outset. The concern for India is regarding the form of Ajinkya Rahane and if India decides to drop/rest him then Suryakumar Yadav/ Hanuma Vihari would play or may be that would another surprise. If India wants to win the next Test Match, then they should blunt the new ball the same way they did in the 2^nd innings while the bowling line up of India may see return of Ishant & Shami so there are a lot of happy headaches for India; if India wins the Test Series, then they would win after 14 years as earlier in 2007 India had won under the leadership of the “Wall” Rahul Dravid.

England are in a precarious position currently as there have been a lot of collapses. India would hope that they don’t get too overjoyed by this victory as it is often said: “It’s never over until it’s over.”