Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill stitched a 72-run stand to guide India home in a tricky chase against England in Ranchi and seal the series 3-1.
Batting from an overnight score of 40/0, Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal kept the momentum going as England’s 192 target seemed below par. Joe Root then got rid of Jaiswal for 37 and Rohit Sharma soon followed after a well made 55.
At 99-2, India still looked in control before three wickets fell in the space of 21 runs, as young English spinner Shoaib Bashir got Rajat Patidar and Sarafaraz Khan for a duck either side of Ravindra Jadeja’s dismissal for 4 runs. This left India on 120/5 with 72 runs still to get.
But Gill and Jurel, whose first inning 90 helped India cut down England’s lead batted sensibly and saw the team home without any fuss. Gill scored an unbeaten 52 and Jurel also remained not out on 39, as India take an unassailable lead in the five match series.
England left to rue key moments
England had India on their knees on Day 2. Having scored 353 in the first innings, the visitors reduced the hosts to 177/7 on the second day. But Dhruv Jurel, playing just his second test showed immense character and built partnerships with Kuldeep Yadav and Akash Deep to reduce the deficit to only 46 runs, while scoring a defiant 90 in the process.
England then crumbled with the bat and were bundled out for 145, having been 100/3 at one stage. Indian spinners were the destroyers in chief, with R. Ashwin picking up five wickets, Kuldeep Yadav getting four, and Jadeja accounting for one.
India’s win means that the much-publicized Bazball failed its ultimate test and will prompt a rethink from the management on how to approach the game in different conditions.
Sherjeel Malik is the editor at FanHaat with a writing experience in multiple sports. He oversees the editorial and content coverage at FanHaat and writes often around combat sports, football and other marquee sports. A professional highlight of his career was when WWE’s Paul Heyman shared one of his articles on his social media.
Apart from writing, editing and watching sports, he likes to indulge in reading fiction, watching war documentaries and is a fan of Liverpool FC
