England vs India: Ben Stokes scripts enthralling victory for England
England defeated India in the first Test of the five-match series by 31 runs on Saturday. India needed 84 runs to win when Day four begun but they failed miserably as the hosts emerged victorious. Ben Stokes produced the moment of the day when he trapped Indian skipper Virat Kohli in front which turned tables around.
Ben Stokes also picked Mohammad Shami in the same over and came back to complete last rites by dismissing Hardik Pandya. England was clinical and dominated the session from the beginning.
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Dinesh Karthik failed to support his skipper and perished in the first over of the morning itself, edging one to the second slip fielder. Hardik Pandya joined in and looked fluent after getting through the difficult initial phase. He started to look in control after hitting two straight drives and a good looking on the drive, clinching three impressive boundaries amidst immense pressure. But then came the moment of the Test match, as Virat Kohli was trapped in front by Ben Stokes who produced the knockout punch.
Kohli departed and the easy looking 53 runs transformed into a huge mountain as Pandya runs out of partners at the other end. Eventually, England deservingly emerged as victorious in their 1000th Test as India fell agonisingly close from making it a memorable test for the visitors.
Brief scores: India 274 all out (Kohli 149, Sam Curran 17-1-74-4) & India 162 all out (Virat Kohli 51, Ben Stokes 14.2-2-40-4) lost to England 287 all out in 89.4 overs (Joe Root 80, R Ashwin 26-7-62-4) & England 180 all out in 53 overs (Sam Curran 63, Ishant 13-0-51-5) by 31 runs.