India nail down series-clincher
PARTNERSHIP: GILL AND JUREL TAKE ENGLAND TO TASK
Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel guided India to a series-clinching five-wicket win over England on day four of the fourth Test yesterday. Chasing 192 for victory, India slipped to 120/5 but Gill (52) and Jurel (39) put on an unbeaten stand of 72 to achieve the target during the second session in Ranchi.
The win gave India an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series after they lost the first Test.
It was the first series defeat for captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum since they took charge in 2022 and changed England’s fortunes with their attacking philosophy dubbed “Bazball”.
“It was a great Test match, the scoreboard doesn’t give enough credit to the game as a whole, the ebbs and flows,” Stokes said, adding that he “couldn’t be more proud” of his spin bowlers.
“So much credit to our spinners, being exposed to a situation like that at the start of their careers,” Stokes said.
Gill played the anchor in his 124-ball knock as he and Jurel, who made 90 in India’s first innings, staved off a mini-crisis when Shoaib Bashir took two wickets in two balls soon after lunch.
India still needed 72 more but Gill and Jurel rotated the strike coolly to pick off singles before the former raised his 50 with two successive sixes off Bashir.
“We were put under pressure... but Jurel came out and took the pressure off, he saw the situation and played accordingly,” Gill said.
He praised captain Rohit Sharma for his support, saying he “gave us the confidence to go out and play with freedom”.
Jurel hit the winning runs, punching the air and hugging his partner as the Indian dressing room rose to celebrate.
India started the morning strongly with Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal extending their overnight 40-run opening stand to 84.
Joe Root made the breakthrough in his first over of the day, as he induced Jaiswal, on 37, to loop a catch to a diving James Anderson at backward point.
Rohit reached his half-century but fell for 55, caught behind by wicketkeeper Ben Foakes off Tom Hartley’s left-arm spin. The decision was changed from stumped.
The fifth and final Test begins on 7 March in the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala.