Picture Credit: Twitter
India will be playing the rescheduled 5th Test match in Birmingham from 1 July 2022 (which was initially supposed to happen from 10 Sep 2021). India are currently leading this Test Series 2-1 and when it looked like India would win a Test series on England soil after 2007, unfortunately the 5th and final Test match got postponed due to COVID-19 outbreak. Here in this article we will have a look at how first 4 Test matches went in this series.
1st Test match in Nottingham (4th-8th Aug, 2021):
England winning the toss opted to bat first but unfortunately they got bundled out for just 183 runs as Indian bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami breathed fire with the ball. Only skipper Joe Root managed to score runs among the English players and rest of them around him failed to accumulate runs for his team.
England 1st Innings - 183 (65.4 Overs)
Joe Root - 64(108); Jasprit Bumrah - 4/46
Jonny Bairstow - 29(71); Mohammed Shami - 3/28
India at end of day 1 ended up with a score of 21/0 (13 overs) in their 1st innings. Next day India had a good opening partnership between KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma but unfortunately from 97/0 India ended the day with 125/4 (46.4 overs). The then India skipper Virat Kohli was dismissed for a golden duck by James Anderson. Only 33.4 overs of play was possible on Day 2 of 1st Test due to rain.
At the end of Day 3 India took a lead of 95 runs after brilliant batting performance from KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja. Both played a valiant knock to help India remain in the game. Ollie Robinson picked a five-wicket haul while James Anderson also supported his partner well by taking 4 important wickets of Pujara, Kohli, KL Rahul and Shardul Thakur. Day 3 ended with England trailing by 70 runs with the score of 25/0(11.1 overs) in their 2nd innings.
India 1st Innings - 278 (84.5 Overs)
KL Rahul - 84(214); Ollie Robinson - 5/85
Ravindra Jadeja - 56(86); James Anderson - 4/54
England team managed to post a total of 303 runs in their 2nd innings with the help of scintillating century from Joe Root. Joe Root single handedly fought for his team with the bat in this Test match and they managed to set a target of 209 runs for India in 4th innings. With the ball once again Jasprit Bumrah showed his class by taking a five-wicket haul which totally collapsed the English batting order.
England 2nd Innings - 303 (85.5 Overs)
Joe Root - 109 (172); Jasprit Bumrah - 5/64
Sam Curran - 32(45); Shardul Thakur - 2/37
India in 4th innings chasing 209, ended up with 52/1 on 4th day of Test match with Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara at the crease. KL Rahul who played very well in 1st innings of the match unfortunately got out for 26 runs to Stuart Broad this time. India needed 157 runs on final day of the Test match with 9 wickets in hand to win and take a lead 1-0, but unfortunately Day 5 of the Test match got washed out without a ball being bowled.
India 2nd Innings - 52/1 (14 Overs)
KL Rahul - 26 (38); Stuart Broad - 1/18
Result: Draw
Man of the Match : Joe Root (for his 64 & 109)
2nd Test Match at Lord's (12th-16th Aug, 2021):
England winning the toss this time invited India to bat first and once again Rohit Sharma-KL Rahul pair had a brilliant 126-run opening partnership to setup the stage. KL Rahul smashed a brilliant century which helped his team to post 276/3 (90) on Day 1 of Test match with Rohit Sharma's fluent knock at other end.
Next day India ended up with a 1st innings total of 364 runs, while England had done a decent job with the bat despite losing two quick wickets as Rory Burns smashed 49 runs while Joe Root remained unbeaten at 48 runs with their score standing at 119/3 at end of the day.
India 1st Innings - 364 (126.1 Overs)
KL Rahul - 129(250); James Anderson - 5/62
Rohit Sharma - 83(145); Ollie Robinson - 2/73
At the end of Day 3, England took a lead of 27 runs with the help of unbeaten 180 run knock from the then England skipper Joe Root. Despite the lack of support from lower order English batsman Joe Root once again single handedly tried to change the fate of English team and among Indian bowlers Siraj and Ishant Sharma led the way with 4 and 3 wickets respectively.
England 1st Innings - 391 (128 Overs)
Joe Root - 180*(321); Mohammed Siraj - 4/94
Jonny Bairstow - 57(107); Ishant Sharma - 3/69
At the end of Day 4 of Test match, India were struggling at 181/6 (82). Indian stalwarts like KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli didn't perform well as expected but Cheteshwar Pujara-Ajinkya Rahane's 100-run stand helped India to post a better total on board at end of day.
During 5th day when it looked like England would bundle out India quickly, unexpected twist happened in the game as Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah looked pumped up against this English bowling attack and played sensational role for India stitching 9th wicket partnership to help them post a humongous total of 298/8 (109.3; decl.).
India 2nd Innings - 298/8 (109.3) (decl.)
Ajinkya Rahane -61(146); Mark Wood - 3/51
Mohammed Shami - 56*(70); Ollie Robinson - 2/45
India had around 60 overs to bowl out England and win this Test match and they achieved their target by bowling out England for just 120 runs with the help of terrific bowling attack from Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah. Among English batters only Joe Root managed to cross 30 runs and remaining batters except Jos Buttler failed once again.
England 2nd Innings - 120 (51.5)
Joe Root - 33(60); Mohammed Siraj - 4/32
Jos Buttler - 25(96); Jasprit Bumrah - 3/33
Result: India win by 151 runs and lead the series 1-0
Man of the Match: KL Rahul (for his 129 in 1st innings)
3rd Test match in Leeds (25th-28th Aug 2021):
India winning the toss opted to bat first but got bundled out for just 78 runs in their 1st innings as they faced a major collapse in batting order and completely surrendered to the English pace bowling attack. Among Indian batters only Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane entered double figures.
India 1st Innings - 78 (40.4)
Rohit Sharma - 19(105); James Anderson - 3/6
Ajinkya Rahane - 18(54); Craig Overton - 3/14
England batters this time looked much determined after their unexpected loss at Lord's and ensured their openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed had a unbeaten 120-run partnership at end of the day.
On Day 2 of the Test England ended up posting a huge total of 423/8 as their top 3 batters Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed and Dawid Malan got fifty-plus while their skipper Joe Root smashed another century. During the start of Day 3 the determined English side ensured they had a huge lead of 354 runs against India.
England 1st Innings - 432 (132.2)
Joe Root - 121(165); Mohammed Shami - 4/95
Dawid Malan - 70(128); Jasprit Bumrah - 2/59
India gave a good response with the bat for such a huge lead as Cheteshwar Pujara remained unbeaten at 91 runs while Rohit Sharma smashed crucial fifty and Virat Kohli also looked determined this time after not so good run with the bat in the series. India ended up scoring 215/2 in their 2nd innings at the end of Day 3.
On 4th day when India was expected to give a tough fight, they lost the battle in a humiliating manner as they got bundled out for 278 runs from 215/2 and faced a defeat by an innings. Ollie Robinson was the star performer for England as he picked five-wicket haul and was well supported by Craig Overton at other end.
India 2nd Innings - 278 (99.3)
Cheteshwar Pujara - 91(189); Ollie Robinson - 5/65
Rohit Sharma - 59(156); Craig Overton - 3/47
Result: England won by innings & 76 runs to level the series 1-1
Man of the Match: Ollie Robinson (For his 2/16 & 5/65)
4th Test Match at The Oval (2nd-6th Sep 2021):
England winning the toss invited India to bat first and bundled them out for just 191 runs. Virat Kohli and Shardul Thakur smashed fifty-plus with the bat while Ollie Robinson and Chris Woakes looked as bigger threat for Indian batting attack. England also in reply lost 3 quick wickets including the key wicket of Joe Root and ended the day with the score of 53/3 (17 overs).
India 1st Innings - 191 (61.3)
Shardul Thakur - 57(36); Chris Woakes - 4/55
Virat Kohli - 50(96); Ollie Robinson - 3/38
England on Day 2 of 4th Test ended up taking a big lead of 99 runs as their lower order batters like Ollie Pope, Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes played a key role for them to post a very good total on board. For the 1st time England managed to post a commendable score despite the failure of Joe Root in this series.
England 1st Innings - 290 (84)
Ollie Pope - 81(159); Umesh Yadav - 3/76
Chris Woakes - 50(60); Ravindra Jadeja - 2/36
India ended up with a score of 43/0 in their 2nd innings on Day 2 of Test match.
India posted a sensational total of 270/3 at the end of day 3 with the help of masterclass century from Hitman Rohit Sharma and he was well supported by other batsman like KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara.
On Day 4 India ended up with an unexpected total of 466/8 as their lower batsman like Pant, Thakur and others like Umesh Yadav, Bumrah also played a key role with the bat which meant that the Indian team once again surprised all their fans like they did in 2nd Test match at Lord's.
India 2nd Innings - 466 (148.2)
Rohit Sharma - 127 (256); Chris Woakes - 3/83
Cheteshwar Pujara - 61(127); Ollie Robinson - 2/105
England had a humungous task of chasing 368 runs in the 4th innings and they ended that day with 77/0.
Despite 100-run opening partnership between Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed, England slowly started losing wickets like pack of cards as their middle order batter Ollie Pope got out for 2 runs while Bairstow and Moeen Ali were dismissed for ducks. Skipper Joe Root managed to score only 36 runs which meant England got bundled out for just 210 runs and were on verge of losing this Test series with 1 more match to go.
England 2nd innings - 210 (92.2)
Haseeb Hameed - 63 (193); Umesh Yadav - 3/60
Rory Burns - 50 (125); Shardul Thakur - 2/22
Result: India win by 157 runs and lead the Test series 2-1
Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma (for his 127 in 2nd innings)
The fifth and final Test of the this series was scheduled to take place from September 10, 2021 at Old Trafford in Manchester but was postponed due to COVID-19 outbreak.