LONDON: Jasprit Bumrah starred as India crushed England by 157 runs to win the fourth Test at the Oval on Monday and take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Chasing a target of 368 runs, England bowled out for 210 after its middle-order collapsed. The tourists took all 10 wickets they needed inside a day’s play, bouncing back in style following their innings defeat in the third Test.
England still had hopes of victory at 141-2 after lunch on the last day but Ravindra Jadeja and Bumrah both struck twice as England lost four wickets for six runs, slumping to 147-6.
England lost two more wickets before tea including captain and star batsman Joe Root, bidding for a fourth hundred in successive Tests, who played on to recalled all-rounder Shardul Thakur for 36.
Umesh Yadav then cleaned up the tail to the delight of India fans among a capacity crowd revelling in the south London sunshine. He, who took six wickets in the match, ended proceedings when he had James Anderson caught behind off the new ball shortly after tea.
“I’m really proud of the character the team has shown, especially this morning, the way we bowled,” India captain Virat Kohli told Sky Sports. “I think it’s definitely among the top three bowling performances I have witnessed as India captain,” he added.
England have little time to regroup before the fifth Test at Old Trafford starts on Friday and Root could not hide his disappointment. “It is frustrating not to be able to get anything from the game today,” Root said.
“We turned up this morning and we really feel like we had an opportunity to win the Test match, especially with that opening partnership, which I thought was outstanding,” he added.
He also acknowledged Indian bowling performance, saying, “India got the ball to reverse and they made good use of that. It was a brilliant spell of bowling from Bumrah and that really was the turning point in the game.”
