India resumed their batting on Day 4 with their noses firmly in front. England then pulled off one of the most astonishing counterpunches to not just pull the game away from them but snatch it with utter disdain. The hosts demolished the Indian attack to register a historic run chase, defeating India by 7 wickets. The chance of winning an away Test series in England after 15 years came agonisingly close for India, but they end up sharing the honours. England retain The Pataudi Trophy courtesy of winning the series back in 2018. We look back at moments and stats from the last two days that shaped this thrilling cricket match.
Batting on Day 4
India lacked any game plan on Monday morning. They started the day 257 runs ahead with 7 wickets in hand. Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant were the set overnight batters. But the passage of play that followed lacked any game awareness. To start off, India ideally had to bat out the day or at least 70 overs on Day 4 to bat England out of the game. It wouldn’t have been a conservative approach, but the right approach.
Pitches in England have become flatter in recent times. The Edgbaston pitch was no different as there were no demons in the pitch. With the recent batch of Dukes cricket balls not assisting bowlers after 40 overs or so, India had everything in their favour to stretch their lead beyond any realistic chance for England. India scored 104 runs in the first session but lost four crucial wickets.
Post Lunch, India’s batting approach was more baffling as they scored only 16 runs in 9.5 overs. Ravindra Jadeja tried to farm the strike with bowlers at the other end but neither he nor the others tried to get quick runs. With more than 4.5 sessions of game-time, the time factor was never going to be an issue with England’s recent approach. On Day 4, India neither had a plan to attack nor had any fight in them to bat out time.
Insipid Bowling
Indian bowling had a great cushion of 377 runs behind them but looked just as clueless as the batting earlier in the day. Just like their batting, the bowling unit had no game plan, neither to attack nor to defend. All four pacers for India conceded at more than 4 RPO. Of the 57 overs India bowled on Day 4, only four were maidens. This shows the absolute lack of plans with which India bowled and fielded, not only regularly conceding boundaries but also unable to stop singles.
The last six overs of the day produced 37 runs!
The final rites
England were the favourites to win on the final day with 119 runs needed and seven wickets in hand. However, India were still not completely out of the game. A couple of quick wickets would’ve brought them right back into the game. But the manner in which England came out on Day 5 shattered all Indian hopes.
England scored 39 runs off the first six overs of the day!
As England cantered towards the target, Root and Bairstow reached their customary hundreds. England eventually chased down 378 runs off just 76.4 overs – a run rate of 4.93 RPO in the fourth innings of a Test.
India never arrived on the final day. The bowling was uninspiring, and their overall game was just clueless. Their presence just seemed to have been a mere formality to complete the final rites for a historic humiliation. Mohammed Siraj’s economy of 6.53 from his 15 overs was the worst for an Indian bowler in a Test match (min. 10 overs). Shardul Thakur wasn’t too far behind, conceding 59 runs off his 11 overs at 5.9 RPO. India’s two stalwarts, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami combined bowled just three maidens between them from 32 overs.
England have definitely found a template to achieve success in Tests. India’s shell-shocking performance in the last two days, more so their bowling, was also a result of outstanding batting from two players who are at the peak of their Test careers. For India, they need to address this slide in their bowling form as they have now faced three consecutive defeats away from home while defending 200 runs or more. Interestingly, all three were 7-wicket defeats.