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LONDON. — England’s batting disintegrated in the face of an inspired India, who won the fourth Test by 157 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Set an unlikely 368 for victory or, more realistically, looking to bat out the fifth day, England were dismissed for 210 on a blameless pitch at the Kia Oval.
Haseeb Hameed made 63 before becoming the first of four wickets to fall for only six runs.
India pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah was sensational, reverse-swinging the ball at 90mph. The delivery he produced to bowl Jonny Bairstow was near unplayable.
Bumrah ended with 2-27, Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja also took two wickets apiece, and Umesh Yadav picked up the final three.
India need to avoid defeat in the final Test at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Friday, to win a series in the UK for the first time since 2007.
“It’s frustrating. All three results were on the table. We set a platform to go on and win the game. It was a brilliant spell of bowling that bust it open for India,’’ said England captain Joe Root.
“We’ve got to look at the whole game. Our catching has to improve. We’ll do dome learning. The good thing is we don’t have to long to dwell on it.”
This was a predatory final-day performance by India, who won despite being 127-7 on day one, conceding a first-innings deficit of 99 and being 213 ahead with only four wickets in hand on Sunday.
From 77-0 overnight, England talked about the possibility of pulling off their highest successful chase in Test cricket but, even on such a good batting pitch, a draw would have felt like a creditable result.
However, once the tourists sensed victory, and with captain Virat Kohli conducting the ecstatic India support among a sold-out crowd, England were overwhelmed.
It means Joe Root’s side lost after winning the toss and choosing to field first. They dropped six catches in the match and Dawid Malan’s needless run-out on Monday was another example of the hosts being complicit in their own downfall. That, though, is to take nothing away from India, who lead the series despite omitting masterful off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin throughout.
Here, Thakur twice produced valuable runs from number eight, Rohit Sharma was sublime in making his first overseas Test hundred and India were tactically superb in exploiting the reverse-swing on the final day. — BBC Sport.
Online Reporter