India 21 up in series after beating England in 4th test

LONDON: India's worldclass attack produced a bowling masterclass on a flat deck at The Oval yesterday to secure a memorable 157run victory in the fourth test against England.

The tourist was on the back foot after conceding a 99run first innings lead but made amends in the second innings when the pitch got increasingly easy to bat on.

It racked up a serieshigh 466 in its second outing to set England 368, a daunting target even on such a flat pitch.

Openers Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns responded with a century partnership, but England unravelled after lunch on the final day, losing six wickets for 52 runs.

Jasprit Bumrah lit up that session with what former England captain Michael Vaughan called the ``spell of the summer by an absolute country mile''.

On a pitch that offered little for the seamers, Bumrah generated reverse swing with the old ball.

The 27yearold breached Ollie Pope's defence and, in his next over, clean bowled Jonny Bairstow for a duck with a yorker.

That 6362 spell by the seamer made sure England's collapse was just a matter of time.

If Bumrah effectively took the pitch out of the equation, Jadeja made the most of it.

The leftarm spinner kept tossing the ball into the rough and spun one past Hameed's bat and on to his offstump.

He subsequently landed one more delivery on those footmarks to get Moeen Ali caught at short leg for a duck.

England's slim hopes of saving the match hinged on their captain Joe Root but Kohli made an inspired bowling change to get rid of his counterpart.

Root had been watching wickets tumbling at the other end, and he joined that procession after dragging a Shardul Thakur delivery on to his stumps on 36.

Umesh Yadav claimed three wickets.

India leads the series 21, with the fifth and final test starting at Old Trafford on Friday night. — Reuters