England v India: Test Series – Comprehensive Analysis – Part-4
England had defeated India in the first three Tests of the four-match series to take the top spot in the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 Test match rankings.
The hosts were now eying a whitewash as both sides headed to the Kennington Oval, London for the final match of the series on Thursday, August 18, 2011.
However, the pitch at Oval was pretty much similar to the Subcontinent conditions, which would have given some hope to the tourists. They had an opportunity to save the humiliation of a whitewash, but needed a special effort from the players.
England’s skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AJ-Strauss-c964 was lucky at the toss once again, as he won it for the second consecutive game. He opted to bat first straight away, as the wicket was expected to deteriorate with the passage of time.
The weather forecast was not much encouraging for the Oval Test, which increased the chances of a draw. There were only 26 overs bowled on the opening day’s play and England scored 75 runs without losing any wicket.
The start to the second day was quite productive for the Men in Blue, as they took a couple of early wickets. England’s openers Strauss and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AN-Cook-c1026 failed to convert their starts, getting dismissed for 40 and 34 respectively.
However, the Indian bowlers were then made to work extremely hard to get the third wicket in the day. Middle-order players http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KP-Pietersen-c1806 amassed a marathon partnership of 350 runs, taking the game away from the opposition.
The latter finally got out in the closing moments of the day after clobbering 175 runs with the help of 27 boundaries. Bell went onto complete his maiden double-century on the third day. He was dismissed after collecting 235 runs, hammering 23 fours and
2 massive sixes.
Rain interrupted play once again, forcing the hosts to declare their innings on 591/6. India’s http://www.senore.com/Cricket/S-Sreesanth-c2398 picked up 3 wickets in the innings.
The tourists had to start their innings with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447.
Sehwag was once again expected to dominate the opposition, but failed to live up to his reputation for the third time in the series. He struck two fours in the first over, but got out after collecting 8 runs.
The struggle continued for the visitors just like the previous games, as wickets kept on falling at regular intervals. However, Dravid stood in the way of England, carrying the bat with an unbeaten 146 runs.
This was the first and only time in the series when India reached 300. The team failed to go beyond that and had to follow-on. They were troubled by the opposition’s spinner http://www.senore.com/Cricket/GP-Swann-c1501 for the first time in the series, as he took 3 wickets for his side.
India lost 3 wickets in their second outing until the end of day-four and were struggling at 129/3.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/A-Mishra-c871 and the pair resumed play on the final day. They batted brilliantly, almost ensuring a drawn game.
The pair collected 144 runs for the fourth wicket partnership, batting for almost two sessions on the final day. However, the situation changed dramatically after Mishra and Tendulkar got out for 84 and 91 respectively.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750’s last 7 wickets fell for just 21 runs, as the team lost the match by an innings and 8 runs.
With this win, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 completed a whitewash by 4-0. Swann was exceptional with the ball, taking 6 wickets.
The series turned out to be a disappointment for the tourists, as they did not expect such humiliation. They will look to turn things around in the One Day Internationals (ODIs) in order to bring smiles to the faces of their nation.
Tags: