India Flunks Test after 190-run Lead
In a very surprising turn of events, India lost its first Test match against England on Sunday, 28th January.
India proudly held on to the record of never losing a match in which they had a prior 100 run first-innings lead. But, England, as ever, interfered with this history to break this record and win the match.
This marks, only the second time that a team lost a match after a 100+ lead. The first one was, incidentally India, vanquishing Australia in 2001 at the Eden Gardens when it surpassed the 274 run lead of the Aussies.
The fans at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad went through a rollercoaster of emotions and expressions with every new development in the game. At first, it looked like an easy triumph for the Men in Blue, banking on the 190 run lead on the boards.
Pope and Hartley Shine for England
However, England stunned India when Ollie Pope stood our phenomenally with the bat to score 196 runs in his second innings, amply redeeming his 1 run score in the first one.
Pope’s innings, brimming with reverse sweeps and sweeps and much deft, single handedly turned smiles into frowns for the tri-color bearers and gave a jump lead after an inept score of 163/5.
Ollie’s score also goes down in the books as he scores the 4th highest runs by and English batter on Indian soil in Test match.
Tom Hartley, the left-arm spinner, had a dream debut in the match, clinching the marvellous figure of 7 wickets for just 62 runs and hammering one more nail in India’s coffin.
England, India and History
England wins the first of the five test-match series against India by 28 runs to lead the board with 1-0. Indian men failed to reach the target of 231 declared by the visitors and dismay was seen on Indian supporters when the team was bowled out for 202 in the last over on the testing pitch on Day 4 of the match.
The curve was a deteriorating one with Indians going from 95/5 to 119/7 and then eventually bested by the English men.
England’s Bazball approach (scoring quick runs in test match) saw fruition as they put up 420 runs in the 3rd innings, adding on to the 196 runs of Pope to resurface above the hosts with a lead of 231 runs.
India’s dry spell in winning test matches continues as India take the 5th spot in the instance of the country losing a Home Test after setting 400+ runs. Replying to Englands 236, India made 436 runs, but the English batters and bowlers played exceptional to earned their spot on the limelight.
This loss marks the 3rd test match loss for India and the very first one in Hyderabad.
The lead of 190 set by India in the first-inning is it’s second highest one in a losing match. India’s 192 run lead against Sri Lanka in 2015, Galle remains on the top spot.
‘We weren’t Brave’ Sharma remarks
The Indian Captain, Rohit Sharma, lost his 2nd home Test match. Post-match, he shares his insights and remarked that India lacked the bravery which England displayed.
Though he did not point any fingers and took the loss as a team, Sharma elaborated that ‘Overall, we failed as a team. We didn’t bat well enough. You need to be brave enough, which I thought we weren’t.’
Commenting on an unsatisfied performance by the Indian batters, he went on to spot the silver lining of the match which was Jadeja and Ashwin putting up 100+ runs on the board in the end on home soil. He praised the lower order for fighting really well.
Bumrah shone as the best bowler from the Indian team with a 4 wicket haul, dismissing the audacious Ollie Pope.
Sharma commended England’s vice-captain – Ollie Pope’s 196 run innings and called it one of the best he’d seen by a touring batsmen in India in a Test match.
India and England clash heads again on 2nd February for the second Test Match in Vizag.
