Picture : Twitter / ECB
In a stunning bowling display Jack Leach picked four while experienced James Anderson scalped three wickets as England defeated India by 227 runs in the first Test here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium to take 1-0 lead in the four match series .
It was a perfect day for England despite India skipper Virat Kohli showing resilience in the second innings. The England bowlers dominated the hosts right from the start of the final day. Shubman Gill showed a glimmer of hope but that was short-lived as James Anderson dismantled top order dismissing Gill, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rishabh Pant.
With this win, England has taken a 1-0 lead in the four-match Test series. If Dom Bess stole the show for England in the first innings, it was Jack Leach and Anderson’s combined performance that hogged the limelight for the visitors in the second essay. The win over India in the first Test has also propelled England to the top of the ICC World Test Championship standings.
In the second session, Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin stitched an important 54-run stand before Leach broke the partnership as England required just three wickets to go 1-0 up in the series.
Kohli registered his 24th half-century but Ben Stokes cleaned up the Indian skipper to leave hosts with no hope in the match. In the next over, Leach dismissed Shahbaz Nadeem to take his fourth wicket of the innings as India was reduced to 179/9.
In the end, it was just a formality as Jofra Archer dismissed Jaspirt Bumrah to give England a win in the first Test.
Reacting to the loss Indian skipper Virat Kohli said the underwhelming batting performance in the first innings gave England the decisive advantage.
The captain also defended the team’s decision to play rookie left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem instead of a more experienced Kuldeep Yadav.
Kohli admitted that the team was always under the pump after England’s mammoth first innings total of 578.”I think, the Test probably shifted in their favour when we batted in the first innings. We were looking to bat better but I don’t think there was enough application shown by us as a batting unit,” Kohli said at the post-match press conference referring to India’s 337 all out first essay score.
