England vs India: 2nd Test, Day 4, Review- Incompetent India capitulate under three days at Lord's

Ever since the second Test at Lord’s got underway on the second day, nothing went right for India as England kept going from strength to strength. Joe Root and Co were nothing short of clinical and kept capitalising on every opportunity they got. In the end, they obliterated India and emerged victorious by a colossal margin of an innings and 159 runs. Most importantly, they went 2-0 up in the five-match series.

Indian openers perish after hosts declare

With a lead of 250, the task for the overnight batsmen- Chris Woakes and Sam Curran- was to add some valuable runs before declaring their innings. The duo added 76 runs together following which the stand was broken by Hardik Pandya. In the meantime, both batters played some delightful strokes, much to the agony of the Indian team. They added 45 runs in 43 balls after which they declared.

The Brits amassed a humungous lead of 289 runs and a herculean task awaited the Indian batters. Murali Vijay and KL Rahul opened the batting and by the seventh over both were back in the hut. Anderson nipped out Vijay for a duck for the second time in the match, this time with an inswinger. The speedster accounted for Rahul’s wicket as well. India ended the session at 17/2 in nine overs.

India slump further and further and further

Virat Kohli was out of the park for 37 minutes while fielding and hence, he didn’t bat at number four. Ajinkya Rahane joined Cheteshwar Pujara in the middle and they played out nearly 13 overs, looking determined. The stand was broken by Stuart Broad when he found the outside edge of Rahane’s willow. Keaton Jennings in the slip cordon didn’t commit any mistake while pouching the leather.

The Indian captain came to bat at five and strained to counter the bowling. He along with Pujara played out 47 deliveries. Broad ran through Pujara’s defense and ended his 87-ball vigil. The speedster delivered the body blow when he pinned Kohli. Dinesh Karthik’s horror run kept continuing as he became Broad’s fourth victim. At the end of the post-lunch session, India found themselves at 66/6 in 32 overs.

India’s miserable Test comes to a close

Ravichandran Ashwin and Pandya resumed the last session, but by then the writing was already on the walls. They had to defy the inevitable and it only seemed to be a matter of time before Kohli’s men slumped to their second defeat of the series. Nevertheless, the all-rounders played out 69 balls and cobbled together 55 runs. Albeit for a short while, the Indian had something to cheer about.

The joy turned out to be momentary as Woakes used the Decision Review System to good effect and removed Pandya. In the next over, Anderson rattled Kuldeep Yadav’s woodwork to get the Poms closer to victory. Mohammed Shami succumbed to the Lancashire-born pacer a couple of overs later. Woakes trapped Ishant Sharma in front to bring the curtains down on the drab encounter at the Home of Cricket.

Brief Scores

India: 107 all out; in 35.2 overs; (Ravichandran Ashwin 29, Virat Kohli 23; James Anderson 5/20, Chris Woakes 2/19)

England: 396/7 in 88.1 overs; (Chris Woakes 137*, Jonny Bairstow 93; Hardik Pandya 3/66, Mohammed Shami 3/96)

India: 130 all out in 47 overs; (Ravichandran Ashwin 33, Hardik Pandya 26; James Anderson 4/23, Stuart Broad 4/44)

England win by an innings and 159 runs

Player of the match: Chris Woakes

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