India defeated England by an innings and 64 runs in the 5th and final Test in Dharamsala, winning the series 4-1. A five-wicket haul on his 100th Test by Ravichandran Ashwin and centuries from Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma helped India defeat the English team.
This is the first time, India has won 4 consecutive matches in a Test series after losing the first match.
Yashasvi Jaiswal won the Player of the Series award for his magical performance that included 712 runs, 2 outstanding double tons in 9 innings.
After restricting England for 218, India put up 477 and took a lead by 259 runs in the first inning. England could not keep up, and got all out at 195 courtesy of Ashwin who took five wickets. On the other hand, Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav managed two wickets each.
Among the batters, it was Gill (110) and Rohit (103) who built the Indian foundation strong.
For England, Joe Root scored 84 runs, and Jonny Bairstow 39. Also, Shoaib Bashir registered a five-wicket haul for England.
England started off the second session at 103/5, with Joe Root (34*) joined by wicketkeeper-batter Ben Foakes. Foakes, known for playing some serious supporting roles with the bat, ended his innings at just eight runs, while attempting a massive slog sweep but was beaten by Ravichandran Ashwin’s spin. England was 113/6.
Next up on the crease was Tom Hartley, the lower-order batter who, surprisingly, is at the top of the six-hitting charts for England in this series. Hartley managed to occupy the crease for a while and give decent support to Root from the other end. His 24-ball 20-run knock was ended by Jasprit Bumrah, who trapped him leg-before-wicket.
Two balls later, it was Mark Wood’s turn to perish without a run with yet another toe crusher by Bumrah. England was 141/8 in 34.4 overs and India needed two more wickets to hand England an embarrassing innings defeat on day three.
Root reached his half-century in 88 balls, with five fours. The batter found some support from Shoaib Bashir at the other end. The duo looked all but set to take England to the 200-run mark, but Bashir was cleaned up by Ravindra Jadeja for 13. England was 189/9 and 70 runs behind a lead. India needed just a wicket to win.
Kuldeep got the final wicket of the match, getting Joe caught by Bumrah for a fighting 84 in 128 balls, with 12 fours. England was bundled out for 195 and lost the match by an inning and 64 runs.
With the win, India put a stop to a lengthy run of success for skipper Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum since mid-2022.
(Input from ANI)
