India needed just 17 balls to capture the last England wicket and claim a 203-run win in the third Test.
The win gives India life in the series, with two Tests to play and with England now just 2-1 ahead.
Ravichandran Ashwin took the last wicket to fall this morning, as Jimmy Anderson swung lustily at a short leg break, top-edging it over the keeper. Ajinkya Rahane backtracked quickly to take a relatively simple catch to end the England innings on 317.
Anderson was out for 11 off 24 balls, while Adil Rashid remained undefeated on 33 off 64 balls (five fours, one six). Ashwin finished with figures of 1-44, while the hero of the innings, Jasprit Bumrah, didn’t get the chance to add to his overnight 5-85.
Virat Kohli was justifiably awarded the Man of the Match award.
‘We as a team want to dedicate the victory to the flood victims back home in Kerala,’ said Kohli after the match. ‘People are going through a lot, and this is the least we can do.’
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Kohli added that it was a very pleasing performance in all three departments.
‘We were only outplayed in one Test out of the five we had played since South Africa, and that was at Lord’s. We spoke about stepping up as batsmen, and that’s what we did, and we set it up for the bowlers. The bowling group was eager to take those 20 wickets again ― the question was what we could do as batsmen to give them that cushion.
‘When both skills come together with slip catching, we win Test matches. Everything came together for us. I want to dedicate my innings, especially to my wife. She’s motivated me a lot, kept pushing me. She’s the only one who keeps me positive out there.
‘The most pleasing thing for me to see was that the four fastest bowlers in the series have all been Indians. We’ve worked on our fitness, on our mindset, cutting down on loose deliveries. They’re getting better and better the more Test cricket they’ve played. It’s a delight to watch when they’re running in. We definitely believe we can [win the series]. It wouldn’t be 2-1 now if we didn’t believe that. We just want to keep pushing forward and keep wanting to win,’ concluded Kohli
‘We were performing extremely well with the ball, and potentially could have bowled them out quickly,’ said England skipper Joe Root after the match. ‘We could have bowled a bit fuller, but that’s nitpicking. India batted extremely well on that first day. I think it’s fair to say we underperformed in our first innings.’
When asked about Kohli’s performance, Root felt that they had bowled well at him, adding that ‘he’s not scored too quickly against us, but he’s found ways to score runs. We’re working extremely hard on our catching, we know it’s a massively important area. It’s not worked out until now, but if we get it right we know it will play massive dividends.’
The teams head to the Rose Bowl in Hampshire for the fourth Test starting Thursday 30 August for a crucial encounter.
Photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
