Twitter Reactions: England seal the series with a 60-run victory

The hosts have taken an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the series.

By Aditya Gajanan Kukalyekar verified

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2 Min Read

Ben Stokes
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Ben Stokes of England celebrates. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Until Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were in the middle, the Indian fans had hope that they will be able to pull off a cliffhanger. But once there was an opening from one end, England pounced in. The lower middle-order of the tourists couldn’t handle the heat in the middle. Like it has been the story throughout the series, once Kohli’s wicket was fallen, it was all one-way traffic. Eventually, the hosts had the last laugh as they sealed the game and the series by 60 runs.

The duo of Kohli and Rahane came together at 22/3 with the Indian top-order being blown away thanks to Stuart Broad and James Anderson. The two batsmen handled the pressure extremely well and played the situation out. It was tough being in the middle and India’s most equipped batsmen brought all their experience to the fore. They understood that grinding is the need of the hour and they did the same.

Runs came slowly but they were getting the measure of the pitch. Moeen Ali was constantly pitching it in the rough areas and even Virat survived a couple of close calls, one of them being controversial as well. But the duo stayed put and the runs started to come after some time. The bad balls were put away and Kohli reached his 19th Test half-century. But Ali got one to bounce on him and he was caught at short leg on 58 just before tea.

Mayhem in the last session

Hardik Pandya was dismissed for a seven-ball duck in the first over of the last session and one felt, the end is nigh for the visitors. Rishabh Pant backed his natural instincts to attack from the word go which worked for a brief period. But the rush of the blood had his number and was caught in the deep off Ali and who else. Meanwhile, Rahane got to his one of his most patient fifties and he had scored only a solitary four in it.

But his wicket was the final nail in the coffin for Team India. Ali once again pitched it in the rough which turned a long way and the batsman tried to play it off the back-foot and missed. It goes without saying that he was struck in front of the stumps and the review was taken only out of desperation which proved that the umpire was right. He scored 51 runs but sadly couldn’t take India home.

Unlike England’s lower-order, India’s couldn’t hang around and the Stokes-Moeen ran through them in no time. From 150/5, they were left reeling at 163/9, another collapse which hurt them the most in the context of the game. Their last wicket delayed the inevitable with Ravi Ashwin trying his best to take his team close to the target but it was too much of an ask for them. India were bowled out for 184 runs as England sealed the match by 60 runs and also took an unassailable lead of 3-1 in the series with one match to go.

Sunny morning for India

Earlier, the day started on a brighter note for the tourists. Mohammed Shami got the wicket of Stuart Broad off the very first delivery. Sam Curran though played a few shots then as the lead swelled to 243. However, in the quest to take the second run and retain strike but Ishant Sharma was quick in the field as he was quick to throw the ball and catch him short. England were bundled out for 271 runs and a target of 245 runs was set in front of India to stay alive in the series.

But then it was a little too much on a pitch which was getting worse with every over and it was England who prevailed to keep their nerves during the crunch moments.

Here’s how Twitter reacted during the proceedings:

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