By: Shajil Kumar
India accomplished a nervy chase to secure a five-wicket victory against England in the fourth test in Ranchi on Monday and claim an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
Chasing a modest 192 for victory, India cruised to 84 for no loss with openers Rohit Sharma (55) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (37) giving them a flying start.
The English spinners, led by Shoaib Bashir (3-79), then engineered a collapse that left India reeling at 120-5.
Shubman Gill (52) and Dhruv Jurel (39) combined in an unbroken stand of 72 for the sixth wicket to clinch India’s victory on the penultimate day of the contest.
This is England’s first series defeat under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum.
Needing 152 runs on day four with all 10 wickets intact, Rohit and in-form opener Jaiswal looked at ease on a pitch, where the odd ball was kept low.
Rohit smacked James Anderson for a six over mid-on to signal his attacking intent and Jaiswal, the leading scorer of the series, hit spinner Shoaib Bashir for back-to-back fours.
Joe Root broke the stand in his first over when Jaiswal tried to slice it and Anderson dived full length at short third man to grab the edge.
Rohit duly brought up his fifty but could not soldier on.
Hartley drew the opener out of the crease with a flighted delivery and Ben Foakes whipped off the bails to effect the stumping. Rohit slammed the bat on his pad on his way out.
India slumped to 100-3 after Bashir dismissed Rajat Patidar for a duck and the spinner turned the match on its head after the lunch break when he dismissed Ravindra Jadeja and Sarfaraz Khan with successive deliveries.
Gill and Jurel shored up India, defying tremendous pressure. There was a 30-over stretch during which they could not hit a single boundary.
It was only when their victory was in sight that Gill smashed Bashir for two sixes in three balls.
The fifth and final test is scheduled to be played in Dharamsala from March 7. (Reuters)
