Giving its fans a reason to be jubilant, team India qualified for the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) after defeating England and clinching the series 3-1.

The Indian cricket team won the fourth and final Test of the 4-Test series by a margin of an innings and 25 runs. With its victory over England, India is also responsible to eliminate Australia from the ICC World Test Championship.

Read Also  England knocked out of ICC World Test Championship; India one step closer to qualify for WTC final

Ind VS Eng, Test 4, Day 3 Highlights

Team India clinically demolished the guests on the 3rd day of the final Test at Ahmedabad to clinch the 4-Test series by 3-1. By doing that, the team also regained its number 1 position in ICC Test Rankings and booked the berth of the ICC Test Championship final.

Earlier in the day lower-order batsmen Washington Sundar and Axar Patel showed the world how deep India’s batting lineup is by stitching a partnership that helped India extend its lead from 89 to 160 runs. Sundar looked confident since the first session of the day and picked up where he left off things on the second day’s evening. The Tamil Nadu cricketer played a plethora of cuts, drives, backfoot strokes and revealed his innate understanding of the art of batting.

Sundar was offered the able support of home crowd’s favourite Axar Patel who also played some gorgeous shots in his knock of 43 runs. Just when it looked like Sundar will be registering his maiden Test hundred on the largest cricket stadium in the world, his fellow batsman Axar Patel’s run-out initiated a collapse where India lost 3-wickets in the span of only 5 deliveries. Patel ran for a non-existent run and was run-out as Sundar was nearing his century. Washington Sundar was stranded on the non-striker’s end as Ben Stokes took the wickets of pacers Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Siraj.

Thanks to the brilliant knocks of Sundar and Pant, India managed to put a respectable 365 runs on the board.

In its second innings, the England cricket team received early jolts in the form of openers Crawley and Bairstow losing their wickets in two back-to-back deliveries. It was Chepauk’s hero Ravichandran Ashwin who deceived Crawley and Bairstow with straight deliveries that were played for the turn. Jonny Bairstow has had a season that he would like to forget as he registered his 6th duck in the last 9 innings against the Indian team.

As if fortune too has turned its back on the England team, Dom Sibley got out in an unfortunate situation as he perfectly timed a sweep shot which bounced-off Shumbhman Gill’s pads and flew in the air. Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant did the rest and opened his palm and took one of the easiest catches in the series.

It was as if England had already boarded their planes back to their country as the team’s batsmen looked absolutely dispirited. This was excruciatingly evident when Ben Stokes played an inexplicably bad shot and gave Indian captain Virat Kohli an easy catch. Only England-skipper Joe Root had a fighting spirit for his team and played a delightful 72-run knock. But no man can stop the carnage Ravichandran Ashwin is on. Root was trapped in an lbw as he went on backfoot where he should have played the delivery on forward.

The England team was whimpering at 65-6 and looked like it was a matter of few minutes before India seals its victory. But Ben Foakes and Dan Lawrence prolonged the inevitable by stitching a 44-run partnership off 107 deliveries. Their partnership was finally broken by home-boy Axar Patel as Ajinkya Rahane leaped to take a low-catch at the difficult 1st slip field position. Soon, Patel soon Dom Bess packing and claimed his 4th fiver in just 6 innings.

Dan Lawrence however continued the uphill battle against the inevitable. Lawrence went on to score his first half-century of the series. However, soon Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed him and later bowled out Jack Leach to claim his 30th 5-wicket haul and got his team the reservation to the ICC World Test Championship final.

Reactions of cricketers after India defeated England and won the series 3-1 

After the victory, the entire cricket fraternity lauded team India on Twitter-