England completed the 4-0 rout of India at the Oval in London when they beat the visitors by an innings and eight runs on the fifth and the final day of the game.
England V India 4th Test Day 5: England Win Series 4-0
England romped home to an innings and an eight run win in the fourth Test match of the series to win it 4-0.
It was a tale of two phases; one when the Indians were battling hard through to the middle of the second session with both their overnight batsmen, Sachin Tendulkar and Amit Mishra at the crease. And the other, when they went down in a heap after the dismissal of Mishra for 84.
Tendulkar, who had begun the day unbeaten on 35, batted well to get to his half-century but once he got there, there was a sudden shift in pendulum and in the gears as he slowed down in a manner similar to what he had in the second innings at Lord’s. He was lucky to survive through most part of the innings, what with two dropped catches and a couple of close decisions going for him, as he went through to lunch unbeaten, but narrowly at that.
Mishra, at the other end, had walked into the innings as a night watchman, but looking at him bat, it looked like he was the senior partner. He batted quite comfortably, flicked with disdain and each time he got an opportunity, also late cut the bowling to the fence.
Both, Tendulkar and Mishra, despite their obvious different styles looked like they were on their way to respective centuries as well as on their way to saving the game for the Indians. After all, they managed to bat through to 40 overs in the day – of the 98 that were to be bowled – without getting separated.
It was the wicket of Mishra, bowled to a superb ball from Graeme Swann that did not turn, that changed the fortunes of the match completely. Once Mishra had departed for his well-made 84, the rest of the Indians fell away for the addition of 21 further runs to hand the game and a 4-0 drubbing over to the home side.
Tendulakr’s torturous grind got over when he was declared out lbw to Tim Bresnan, nine runs short of the 100th century in Test cricket and beyond that there was a procession – none of the batsmen getting to double figures.
Swann went on to pick up six wickets in the innings, to go with the three wickets in the first knock and was responsible for trigger that sparked the Indian collapse.
This was the first time that India has lost a series 4-0 since the 1991-92 loss to Australia.
The one-off T20 will be played on August 31, which will be followed by five ODIs.
See More:
