Reverse swing brings England resistance to hasty conclusion
Jasprit Bumrah starred as India crushed England by 157 runs to win the fourth test at the Oval yesterday and take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
The tourists took all 10 wickets they needed inside a day’s play, bouncing back in style following their innings defeat in the third test at Headingley and cannot now lose the series.
England, set 368 to win, still had hopes of victory at 141-2 after lunch on the last day but Ravindra Jadeja and Bumrah both struck twice as England lost four wickets for six runs, slumping to 147-6.
There was no way back from there.
England lost two more wickets before tea including captain and star batsman Joe Root, bidding for a fourth hundred in successive tests, as he played on to recalled allrounder Shardul Thakur for 36.
Umesh Yadav, in for the dropped Mohammed Shami, then cleaned up the tail to the delight of India fans among a capacity crowd revelling in the south London sunshine.
Yadav, who took six wickets in the match, ended proceedings when he had James Anderson caught behind off the new ball shortly after tea.
But it was Bumrah, gaining significant reverse swing, who proved particularly difficult to handle, returning superb figures of 2-27 in 22 overs.
“I’m really proud of the character the team has shown, especially this morning, the way we bowled,” India captain Virat Kohli told Sky Sports.
“I think it’s definitely among the top three bowling performances I have witnessed as India captain.”
Kohli came under fire from some quarters for turning to the Barmy Army and pretending to play the trumpet as his team celebrated ending another batsman’s stay at the crease.
English cricket journalist Lawrence Booth sarcastically tweeted: “Love this. His teammates are celebrating a wicket, but Kohli finds the time to taunt the England fans. Doesn’t miss a trick!
“To clear up any confusion, I don’t really love this. I find it weird when a top-class sportsman isn’t content with winning a game, having totally outplayed the opposition, but wants to stick it to the fans too.”
Ex-England opener Nick Compton added: “It doesn’t look good for him! No need.”
England have little time to regroup before the fifth test at Old Trafford starts on Friday and Root could not hide his disappointment.
“It is frustrating not to be able to get anything from the game today,” he said.
“We turned up this morning and we really feel like we had an opportunity to win the test match.
“Credit to India, they got the ball to reverse and they made good use of that.”