Jonny Bravo: Indians knocked out as England smash their way to seven-wicket victory, level series 2-2

Gaurav Joshi

Birmingham, July 5

For India, it was a day of massive possibilities, but the play lasted just around 90 minutes today, and at the end of it England emerged winners of the rescheduled fifth Test, equalling the series 2-2.

Just two lads from Yorkshire, grown up playing together from academy to Test matches, it’s pretty special. It’s about having the enjoyment factor, not afraid of failing, putting the pressure back on the oppositionRs Jonny Bairstow, England batsman

Among the Indian fans in the ground, some had come from as far as Scotland, in the hope of witnessing an Indian win. It began well, too. Virat Kohli gave an animated speech before play. Rohit Sharma, going through his fitness test, urged the boys to not give up.

Yet, in just 40 minutes, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow extinguished India’s hopes by adding 60 runs.

1 This is the first time India have lost a Test after setting a target of over 350 runs.

28 Root smashed a masterly 142 not out for his 28th Test century.

Root brought up his 28th Test century with a jab down to third man. Bairstow was slightly subdued, registering his third century in three innings – and fourth in four Tests – and the two took their unbeaten partnership to 269 runs. England cruised to a resounding seven-wicket victory, achieving the biggest-ever fourth-innings target in England. England have now four consecutive Tests by chasing targets in excess of 275 runs.

This is the first time India have lost a Test after setting a target of over 350 runs.

Dejection

After such a defeat, there are bound to be scars in the Indian team. Kohli looked dejected, and it’s unlikely he will play red-ball cricket in England again.

With a line-up of fast bowlers including Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj, this was supposed to be India’s best chance of winning a series in England for the first time since 2007. In the space of six months, the highly-fancied bowling unit has failed to take 10 wickets in the fourth innings three times, losing by seven wickets on each occasion — twice in South Africa and now here.

Root and Bairstow deserve plenty of accolades, but through the fourth innings the Indian pacers failed to apply any pressure. There were only six maidens as the pacers constantly angled the ball towards the middle and leg stumps.

Batting failure

More disappointing was the lack of runs from the frontline batsmen. Shubman Gill, Hanuma Vihari, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer all failed in both innings. After Day 3, India were 257 ahead with seven wickets in hand, but they failed to be ruthless.

This wasn’t the first time under Rahul Dravid that the team wasted an opportunity to bury the opposition. In the second Test versus South Africa at Johannesburg in January, India led by 128 with eight wickets remaining in the third innings before collapsing to hand the home team victory. At least on that occasion the pitch had a bit of zing, but here it was a simple case of not putting a price on your wicket.

The partnership between Bairstow and Root was a great example for the youngsters in the Indian dressing room on how to respect the game, value your wicket and be completely ruthless.

Scoreboard

India 1st innings 416

England 1st innings 284

India 2nd innings

S Gill c Crawley b Anderson 4

C Pujara c Lees b Broad 66

H Vihari c Bairstow b Broad 11

V Kohli c Root b Stokes 20

R Pant c Root b Leach 57

S Iyer c Anderson b Potts 19

R Jadeja b Stokes 23

S Thakur c Crawley b Potts 4

M Shami c Lees b Stokes 13

J Bumrah c Crawley b Stokes 7

M Siraj not out 2

Extras: (b 6, lb 7, nb 3, w 3) 19

Total: (All out, 81.5 overs) 245

FOW: 1-4, 2-43, 3-75, 4-153, 5-190,

6-198, 7-207, 8-230, 9-236

Bowling O M R W

James Anderson 19 5 46 1

Stuart Broad 16 1 58 2

Matthew Potts 17 3 50 2

Jack Leach 12 1 28 1

Ben Stokes 11.5 0 33 4

Joe Root 6 1 17 0

England 2nd innings

A Lees run out (Shami) 56

Z Crawley b Bumrah 46

O Pope not out 0

J Root not out 142

J Bairstow not out 114

Extras: (b 8, lb 7, nb 2, w 3) 20

Total: (3 wickets, 76.4 overs) 378

FOW: 1-107, 2-107, 3-109

Bowling O M R W

Jasprit Bumrah 17 1 74 2

Mohammed Shami 15 2 64 0

Ravindra Jadeja 18.4 3 62 0

Mohammed Siraj 15 0 98 0

Shardul Thakur 11 0 65 0

Player of the Match: Jonny Bairstow

Player of the Series: Joe Root