2nd Test: Akash stars as India breach fortress Edgbaston with 336-run win over England; level series 1-1
Birmingham, July 6 (IANS/WISHAVWARTA) Pacer Akash Deep picked a superb 6-99 to complete a ten-wicket match haul as India beat England by 336 runs to get their first-ever Test match win at Edgbaston on Sunday. The statement victory has also meant that India have levelled the five-match Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at 1-1.
India came into this game without Jasprit Bumrah, not including Kuldeep Yadav and being 0-1 down after losing the unloseable Test at Leeds. Akash, who came in as Bumrah’s replacement for this game, stepped in to produce a fast bowling performance for ages – troubling batters with the new ball on a flat pitch to bowl out England for 271 on the last day, with more than a session to spare.
Akash has also become just the second Indian bowler to take a ten-wicket haul in a Test in England after Chetan Sharma took 10-188, co-incidentally at Birmingham back in 1986. He was well supported by Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar taking a wicket each, with Shubman Gill, who hit 269 and 161, getting his first victory as India’s Test captain.
Despite rain delaying day five’s start by 100 minutes, India managed to pick the remaining seven wickets and successfully exorcise their ghosts of losing at Headingley from a sureshot winning position with a famous victory in Birmingham.
Akash kickstarted India’s path of victory by removing overnight batters Ollie Pope and Harry Brook in the early phase of morning session, before Washington’s dismissal of England skipper Ben Stokes on the stroke of lunch meant the visitors’ were well set to get a huge win.
Akash, who took out Ben Duckett and Joe Root in a scintillating spell on Saturday, gave India the perfect start in his second over of the day when he got extra bounce on a back of the length delivery and hit Ollie Pope on his elbow before deflecting onto his stumps.
He then got one to jag back in sharply off a length into Brook and it also kept low to trap Harry Brook lbw, with the review not coming to his aid as ball tracking said it would have hit top of middle stump on ‘umpire’s call’.
Smith, who hit an unbeaten 184 in first innings, took three quick boundaries off Akash, while Stokes showed some authoritative strokeplay by hitting Mohammed Siraj for four boundaries. Ravindra Jadeja got some turn to trouble Smith and Stokes, who doesn’t have a great record against the veteran left-arm spinner.
After Jadeja completed the 40th over under 100 seconds, it proved to be decisive, as Stokes was trapped lbw while doing a forward defence against Washington. Stokes went for the review, but the ball, having some late drift, dip and turn in it, struck his pad first and showed it would hit the stumps, leaving him and England devastated at the stroke of lunch.
Smith began the second session positively by taking three boundaries off Jadeja and Washington collectively, before reaching his fifty off 73 balls. His onslaught continued by smashing Washington for two sixes and a four to keep England’s slim hopes of a draw alive.
But India continued to chip away as Prasidh Krishna got on the wicket takers’ charts by forcing Chris Woakes to top-edge a short ball to Siraj at midwicket, who took a simple catch. The pacer would trap Jamie Smith lbw, but taking the review saved the wicketkeeper-batter as replays showed the ball flying over the stumps.
Smith then flicked Prasidh for four, before pulling Akash for consecutive sixes over backward square leg and mid-wicket. But in an attempt to do it for the third time, Smith was deceived by a clever change of pace and holed out in the deep to give Akash his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests.
More joy came for India when Josh Tongue looked to whip a fuller ball from Ravindra Jadeja, but Siraj at short mid-wicket dived full stretch to his right to grab a stunning one-handed catch, before Akash got his sixth scalp as Brydon Carse sliced to Gill at cover and give India a historic win by breaching yet another fortress in overseas conditions.
Brief Scores: India 587 and 427/6 dec in 83 overs (Shubman Gill 161, Ravindra Jadeja 69 not out; Josh Tongue 2-93, Shoaib Bashir 2-119) beat England 407 and 271 in 68.1 overs (Jamie Smith 88, Ben Stokes 33; Akash Deep 6-99, Washington Sundar 1-28) by 336 runs
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