England v India, 2014 (4th Test): India Crumble to Humiliating Innings Defeat: India lost nine wickets in a single session on Day 3 of the Old Trafford Test to relinquish the fourth Test by an innings and 54 runs in a shambolic and panic-stricken display of batting as England took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the 5-Test series. Match Review: 4th Test: England v India, Day 3. Manchester. August 9, 2014 Very seldom will you see nine wickets fall in a single session, and even rarely will you see almost half of those wickets being taken by a man whom the world calls a part-time spinner. He is clearly pushing a case for rethinking that label now. The English bowlers, once again led by Moeen Ali, ripped into a nervous and clueless Indian batting line-up to dismiss the hosts for 161 and win the fourth Test by an innings and 54 runs inside three days. In a loss that evoked memories of previous disastrous tours of 2011 and 1974, India showed little fight against an England attack that was missing one of its key players as Stuart Broad sat out with a broken nose. England began the day with Root and Buttler continuing their overnight stand for the seventh wicket. The duo played briskly and Buttler reached his second Test fifty in as many innings. Clearly, Matt Prior would be a nervous man while watching this game. Root eventually fell for 77, giving Pankaj Singh his much-belated first Test wicket. The paceman had toiled for 69 overs for the maiden scalp. He soon halved his Test average, removing Buttler too. By now, the lead had swelled up to 173 though. Stuart Broad took the attack to the Indian bowlers, hitting two powerful sixes off short deliveries. It was when he attempted to do that a third time that it went horribly wrong for him. A menacing Varun Aaron bouncer struck the southpaw right on the nose. A profusely bleeding (but smiling) Broad had to leave the field and he would not bowl in the Indian innings. Chris Woakes, however, freed his arms and played a few strokes in his brief cameo of 26. The England innings came to an end when Ravi Jadeja dismissed his new arch-nemesis James Anderson for 9. England scored 367 in their first innings, giving India a healthy lead of 215 to cope with. The tourists got off to a horror start as Murali Vijay was trapped leg before by Chris Woakes in the 11th over of the Indian innings, barely a few minutes before tea. This gave Woakes his first wicket in the series and promptly reduced his career bowling average by over a hundred. In the evening session, India’s plan should have been to bat out the session and hope for a miracle from Hurricane Bertha tomorrow in order to have any chance to save this Test. But they hadn’t accounted for two things - their clear lack of application in a crunch situation, and a certain someone called Moeen Ali. Anderson began the collapse by having Gambhir nick one to the keeper before Moeen accounted for an out of sorts Pujara in the very next over. However, replays did suggest that the Indian batsman was a bit unlucky in having the leg before decision go against him. Virat Kohli started with a fluent boundary but then Anderson did his trick again, getting an outside edge that carried safely to the second slip. Anderson has now dismissed Kohli four times this series for just seven runs. If India thought the rout was over, they were in for a shock. Moeen Ali, determined to finish the game on Day 3 itself, removed Rahane and Jadeja in successive overs, leaving India teetering at 66/6. Dhoni and Ashwin attempted to launch a counter-attack and the Indian captain scored some quick runs but Moeen Ali returned to stop him too. Dhoni tried to launch the off-spinner over the top but holed out to midwicket. Ashwin continued to attack from the other end but received no support. Bhuvneshwar fell victim to some suicidal running and was run out to a throw from the deep by Ali (who else?) Varun Aaron stuck around for a while and helped Ashwin score freely. For some time, it seemed as if India might push the game into the fourth day but Chris Jordan would have none of it. The young seamer had Aaron caught behind and Pankaj Singh in successive deliveries to win the Test for England. Technically, Jordan will be on a hat-trick whenever he takes the ball next in Tests. To say this was a comprehensive performance by England would be a massive understatement. They whittled out India in three hours without the help of their star bowler from the first innings. Broad was adjudged the man of the match for his six-wicket haul in the first innings, which enabled England to take a virtually unassailable lead in the series. India does have a lot of soul-searching to do before they play the final Test at the Oval, which incidentally begins on the 67th anniversary of the very day India assumed independence from the British Empire. Indian fans would surely hope for a repeat performance. Scorecard: India 1st Inns: 152 (Dhoni 71, Broad 6/25, Anderson 3/46) England 1st Inns: 367 (Root 77, Buttler 70, Kumar 3/75) India 2nd Inns: 161 (Ashwin 46, Moeen Ali 4/39) Player of the Match: Stuart Broad (Eng) Disappointment of the Day: Ajinkya Rahane (Ind) CArticles: CricketNews and ReportsEnglandIndia Categories: England in India 2014Moeen AliStuart BroadJames AndersonJoss ButtlerRavichandran Ashwin
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 19:34:41 +0000
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