Ben Stokes took 4-40 to lead England to a famous victory over India at Edgbaston and set the seal on their 1,000th Test match.
India looked to have the upper hand overnight on 110-5 with Kohli 43 not out, but Dinesh Karthik fell to the sixth ball of the day – caught by Dawid Malan, bowled by Jimmy Anderson for 20 off 50 balls – to put India under pressure immediately.
Kohli worked slowly towards his half-century, but fell shortly thereafter leg before to Stokes for 51 after seeing out 10 overs from England.
India continued to bat sensibly and with great purpose in pursuit of their target, but the England bowlers could not be denied as Mohammed Shami (0) and Ishant Sharma (11 off 15 balls) succumbed to Stokes and Adil Rashid respectively.
With last man Umesh Yadav at the crease, Hardik Pandya took responsibility to hit out where he could, but another fine Stokes delivery lifted off a length and the batsman couldn’t help himself from edging to first slip, where Alastair Cook made amends for failing with the bat and struggling in the slips, to take his first catch of the match and seal the win for England.
Pandya’s brave 31 off 61 balls was a good effort but not enough, and the Indian batsmen (aside from Kohli) will leave Edgbaston with a great deal of disappointment and regret. Not so the neutral fans, who enjoyed a terrific game of Test cricket to celebrate England’s 1,000th Test match.
Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
