India vs England keeps us on the edge of the seat every time! After the loss at Chepauk in the first test, Team India looked forward to the new challenge in the second test. India looked more confident with their body language and stepped in with a positive mindset. It is not a surprise after the Australia series that India is known for its resilience as a team. The fans were back in the stands. It was almost after a year that International cricket was returning to India and presence of crowds in the stadium made it feel like a festival.
Fans Return
With a loss in the first test, the pressure on the team to win this game was high in order to stay in the run for the WTC. After the pandemic struck, the games were played behind closed doors in India. It was the first time that the doors would be open to the cricket lovers and it helped team India to perform better. India has always loved the presence of crowds in the game. Captain Kohli had also mentioned in one of his interviews that he loves performing in front of live audience and the team missed their presence.
It was a joyous occasion for the fans to witness such a brilliant game live. We can safely say that they contributed a lot to the game with their presence.
Match Summary
India won the toss and chose to bat first. It was a different level of confidence beaming in their eyes. We lost the wicket early on as Gill was dismissed at 0. It was early blow for the team but Rohit Sharma and Pujara built a beautiful 50 run partnership but soon Pujara (21 in 58 balls) was dismissed. A brilliant delivery by Moeen Ali dismissed Virat Kohli on duck too. While on one end wickets kept falling, Rohit Sharma reached the milestone of 50* runs.
Rohit’s 161 (231) ensured that India had a good score on the board in the innings. It was a good comeback after having a few tough games. Along with Rohit Sharma, it was Ajinkya Rahane’s 67 (149) and Rishabh Pant’s 58* that helped India in putting up a total of 329 runs. On the other side, England made a world record of highest scores in an innings without bowling any extras. It gave us a glimpse of discipline as an unit too.
England’s 1st Innings did not go as expected for them as Ashwin spun his web taking a fifer in the innings. Quick wickets and no one to anchor the innings made it difficult for them to score the runs. On one side, pitch was blamed for its changing nature and England failing to perform under pressure and on the other hand, it was a dominant bowling performance by each bowler from the Indian bowling unit. Axar Patel’s maiden wicket of Joe Root, who is known to perform and steady the innings despite the pressure, made it more difficult for them. Ben Foakes’ 42* (107) was the highest score amongst the England unit who were bowled out for 134 runs in their first innings.
The second Innings was rather more interesting than the first one as it brought moments of happiness and records along with it.
While the top guns could not contribute much in the second innings, it was the Kohli and Ashwin show for the fans! With an early and quick fall of wickets, England looked in a good position to restrict the hosts to around 350 run lead. Kohli’s 62 (149) and Ashwin’s brilliant 106 (148) helped India in putting up the lead of 481 runs. England did well in the bowling department to pick up wickets time to time. The fans celebrated the 50s and 100s and not to forget, the moments before Ashwin’s 100 where they cheered at each ball defended by Siraj. They definitely wanted the local boy to reach the milestone!!
It was the 3rd time that R. Ashwin had picked up 5 wickets in an innings and scored 100+ runs in the same match. He also happens to be the first player to do that against England since 1966.
England needed 482 runs to win the test. With two days in hand, it could have happened. But, the nature of the pitch and the discipline bowling from the Indian unit was something to look out for. England looked on the backfoot in the second innings too as the Indian bowling attack was determined to make every contribution so far count! They did not let any of the batsmen settle and score big. England did seem to be in a rush space of the game with too many sweep shots attempted and finding the fielder on mid-wicket. Moeen Ali’s 43 (18) was the highlight of the innings for England.
Axar’s 5-wicket haul on the debut game was nothing less than a dream for the champ. With this, he also became the 9th Indian bowler to take fifer in a debut test match. The left-hander was lethal and disciplined with his bowling.
Axar (21-60-5-5), Ashwin (18-53-5-3) and Kuldeep (6.2-25-1-2), the spin trio for the game picked up all 10 wickets and ensured a massive win to India.
India won by 317 runs, which is the 6th time that they have won by more than 300 runs and the first time against England.
Other notable moments from the game were: WK by Ben Foakes and Rishabh Pant in the second innings and crowd singing the birthday song for Ben Foakes. Coincidently, at the end of the first innings, it was the WK at the non-striker’s end, Moeen Ali’s quick fire of sixes and Siraj’s defense and attack at the end of second innings. Moeen Ali’s 4-128 and 4-98 in both innings respectively and Olly Stone’s 3-47 in the 1st innings, Jack Leach’s 4-100 in the 2nd innings were other remarkable performances in the match.
Also read: The difference that body language made!
Follow us on socials: Twitter: @beyondmatches || Facebook: Beyond the Matches || Instagram: @beyondthematches