India suffered a big blow in their bid to qualify for the final of the World Test Championship on Tuesday as they tasted defeat against England in the first test match of four match Paytm series. On the fifth day of the first test, India was dismissed for 192 runs in two sessions to give England’s first test match victory in India since 2012.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill started the day positively with good strokeplay. Just when things looked to be settling for the Indian team, Pujara was dismissed by Jack Leach with accurate delivery. The spinner got the length and line right for this delivery, but the extra bounce surprised Pujara as he knicked it to the slip.
Gill raced to his half-century with some cracking shots. Just when Virat Kohli and Gill has started laying the foundation of a good partnership, James Anderson came up with an inspirational over to change the game on its head. The veteran pace bowler managed to hit the right length straightaway and a good amount of reverse swing helped him to get wickets of Gill and Ajinkya Rahane in one over.
Rishabh Pant hanged around for a few overs before Anderson outfoxed him to round off an incredible spell. The hero of the first innings for India, Washington Sundar didn’t trouble the scorers, leaving India in a state of bother with six wickets down before the lunch session.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Kohli fought hard to see out the first session, but England always remained favourites to clinch the victory after a terrific morning session. R. Ashwin copped a few blows post-lunch session and eventually fell for a loose shot to Leach. Kohli scored a fluent half-century. It took a special delivery from Ben Stokes to get rid of the Indian skipper, while Leach and Jofra Archer quickly cleaned up the tail to win the game inside two sessions on day five.
Joe Root was awarded as the man of the match for his magnificent double century in the first innings. There is no time to dwell on defeat for India as the second test will take place in Chennai later this week. India cannot afford any more defeats in this series to make sure that they face New Zealand in the final later this year.