Jadeja spins India to dramatic victory
Madhu Jawali, Dec 21, 2016, Chennai: DHNS:
England collapse, lose series 0-4
On a day when R Ashwin found it hard to get himself in the wickets’ column on his home turf, his spin partner Ravindra Jadeja put his hand up and delivered India a dramatic win over England here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday.
With England seemingly inching towards a draw on the final day, Jadeja (7/48) induced a flick from Alastair Cook (49) to leg-slip where K L Rahul took a smart catch, setting the cat among the pigeons. Sitting pretty on 103 for no loss in the second session of the fifth day, England, overnight 12/0, suffered an extraordinary collapse that saw them fold up for 207 in 88 overs. If someone needed an assertion that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties, this was it.
Having seen through the morning session without any damage, England lost four wickets in the second and got wiped off in the blink of an eye in the final stretch in a dramatic turn of events. In fact, England lost their last six batsmen for 15 runs as they crumbled under the pressure created by the Indian attack and a vociferous crowd.
The collapse brought back England the bitter memories of the debacle against Bangladesh just a couple of months ago when they had lost all their 10 wickets in a single session to lose the Test.
“It wasn’t great viewing and it’s what can happen in this part of the world or in the pressure of a fifth-day Test match,” said Cook of England’s batting. “The momentum is very hard to stop when a side gets going like that with the crowd and everything. You need to play bloody well to withhold that pressure. We weren’t good enough to cope.”
Jadeja, who claimed all his seven wickets from the Pavilion End from where he exploited the rough on the pitch to great effect, returned his best figures in an innings and a maiden 10-wicket haul in a match.
India’s innings and 75-run win not only helped Virat Kohli and his men register their fifth series win in a row but also stretch their unbeaten run in Tests to 18, eclipsing the previous record of 17 from 1985-87.
With England seemingly inching towards a draw on the final day, Jadeja (7/48) induced a flick from Alastair Cook (49) to leg-slip where K L Rahul took a smart catch, setting the cat among the pigeons. Sitting pretty on 103 for no loss in the second session of the fifth day, England, overnight 12/0, suffered an extraordinary collapse that saw them fold up for 207 in 88 overs. If someone needed an assertion that cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties, this was it.
Having seen through the morning session without any damage, England lost four wickets in the second and got wiped off in the blink of an eye in the final stretch in a dramatic turn of events. In fact, England lost their last six batsmen for 15 runs as they crumbled under the pressure created by the Indian attack and a vociferous crowd.
The collapse brought back England the bitter memories of the debacle against Bangladesh just a couple of months ago when they had lost all their 10 wickets in a single session to lose the Test.
“It wasn’t great viewing and it’s what can happen in this part of the world or in the pressure of a fifth-day Test match,” said Cook of England’s batting. “The momentum is very hard to stop when a side gets going like that with the crowd and everything. You need to play bloody well to withhold that pressure. We weren’t good enough to cope.”
Jadeja, who claimed all his seven wickets from the Pavilion End from where he exploited the rough on the pitch to great effect, returned his best figures in an innings and a maiden 10-wicket haul in a match.
India’s innings and 75-run win not only helped Virat Kohli and his men register their fifth series win in a row but also stretch their unbeaten run in Tests to 18, eclipsing the previous record of 17 from 1985-87.
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