India wins final test

India won the fifth and final test against England today at the scenic stadium at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh and won the series 4-1. The match was over in just three days.

England won the toss and batted first on day 1. But they were skittled out for a paltry 218, thanks to a brilliant spell of spin bowling by Kuldeep Yadav. In spite of a superb spell initially by Bumrah, England openers managed to hang on and put up a solid partnership. It was broken when Kuldeep came on and Duncet was dismissed by an outstanding catch by Gill running backwards. Then Kuldeep foxed Pope to have him stumped. Root was deceived by Jadeja's incoming ball and Crawley was dislodged by Kuldeep of a delivery which sharply turned from off to leg. Ashwin took 4 wickets to finish off the lower order and England were bowled out for just 218. India made a solid start through openers Yashasvi and Rohit's century stand and were comfortably placed at the end of day 1.

On the second day Rohit and Gill got centuries, followed by half centuries by Sarfaraz and debutant Padikkal. India ended the day at 473/8, ahead by 255 runs.

On day 3, India folded up at 477, a lead of 259 in the first innings. Jimmy Anderson took 700th wicket of his distinguished test career. England came to bat and soon lost Duncet to Ashwin who took another 5 wicket haul. He was well supported by Kuldeep, Bumrah and Jadeja.Only Joe Root fought for England and scored a classy 84. England were bowled out for just 195, losing the test by an innings and 64 runs. Their batsmen seemed to be weary and eager to catch the flight back home. Kuldeep, for his 7 wickets and 30 runs, was adjudged the player of the match.

After the conclusion of this hard fought and enthralling test series, it is heartening that BCCI has announced incentives today to attract more players to test cricket.

Ravindra Shenolikar