Grounded at home after Brisbane high
Anderson, Leach strike early to thwart chances of an Indian resistance in Chennai; England win opening Test by 227 runs
NEW DELHI: England needed an early opening on the fifth day and they got it. Still, it is the perfect storm in the form of a double-wicket maiden that followed soon after that will be discussed for long.
That was caused by James Anderson, who spliced open India’s batting. His masterful reverse swing rattled the stumps of Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane in that sensational over, in the space of four balls. It wrecked India’s hopes of fighting through the final day of the Chennai Test on Tuesday, the high-flying side handed a 227run defeat in the first game of the four-test series.
Left-arm spinner Jack Leach’s turn first did in Cheteshwar Pujara, in the seventh over of Day 5, but the visitors still needed a burst of wickets early as the SG ball has shown a tendency to go soft after 30 overs and the Indian batsmen were playing spin with ease. In came Anderson in the 27th over of the innings, and 14th of the day.
Test cricket’s most successful pacer with 608 wickets struck with his second and fifth deliveries. And within four overs, the 38-year-old had a third, decisively breaking India’s resistance.
Though India were chasing an improbable 420-run target with 381 to get on a final day Chepauk pitch, with nine wickets and confidence gained from the exploits in Australia, hopes of a miracle lingered until Anderson intervened.
At Brisbane in their last Test, India had scored 328 runs on the final day. But the bounce in Australia
and kookaburra ball gives way to a hard grind in the subcontinent. Spinners, reverse swing, close catchers, sweep shots and big first innings totals take precedence. England had taken the upper hand in all these.
The visiting team was also better acclimatised. The 2-0 win in Sri Lanka last month allowed England to test their arsenal, be it the spin combination, pace options or batting strategy. India had gone into the Test with no red-ball cricket at home conditions after the Australia tour. There was just a week’s gap between leaving a bio-bubble and entering another in Chennai.
Skipper Virat Kohli, who topscored with 72 before Ben Stokes bowled him with a virtual shooter, didn’t agree his team was at a disadvantage.
“We don’t want to jump the gun. Our focus is bouncing back in the next game. You could say they are well prepared but to say they are better prepared than us in our own conditions is not an accurate assessment. If you look at the second innings, when the ball was turning and bouncing, both sides were pretty similar in how they went about,” he said in a virtual media interaction after his fourth successive Test loss as captain following defeats at Wellington, Christchurch and Adelaide.
Kohli almost waged a lone battle. With rough patches around the wicket, it was a tough ask. Leach started the slide with
Pujara’s scalp. He got the ball to drift into the India No.3 and turn across and the edge was taken by Ben Stokes at slip. Kohli and Shubman Gill added 34 runs, but that partnership lasted only 6.5 overs. The 21-year-old has rapidly grown into his opener’s role since replacing Prithvi Shaw. He looked in control defending against the turn of Leach and went after any loose delivery by off-spinner Dom Bess. He hit his third half-century in four games.
With the ball fast losing shine and hardness, England needed something special, and quick. Anderson delivered immediately after coming on to bowl.
Over the years, he has been preserved by England for Tests because his magical swing can be decisive. In the first Test in Sri
Lanka, he delivered with six wickets at Galle, and stepped up again when England needed.
The angle from wide of the crease and reverse in-swing from a perfect length sent Gill back. He trapped Rahane with another though England lost a referral that showed the impact was just outside off-stump. But Anderson dismissed Rahane next ball with a delivery identical to the one that got Gill.
He was not done yet. Rishabh Pant’s counter-attacking 91 in the first innings had unsettled the England bowlers. Pant again started by having a go at anything outside off-stump. Anderson set him up with two back-toback deliveries on that line. The third, a cutter delivered at slower pace, sucked Pant into