It took England 55 minutes of intense drama but they achieved victory
without major damage. They got the last Indian wicket for eight runs
added to India's overnight lead of 32, but their top order batted with a
bit of complacence and a bit of nerves to be reduced to 8 for 3 before
Ian Bell and Nick Comtpon eased the situation with sensible batting.
This is the first time since 1999-2000 that India have been beaten in
back-to-back home Tests.
England began the day with a three-over old ball. R Ashwin, who batted
well for his overnight 83, refused singles twice off the first four
balls of the first over, bowled by Steve Finn, but when the field came
up he pierced it for boundaries off the last two balls. James Anderson,
though, tickled Pragyan Ojha's off bail with the fourth ball he bowled.
Ashwin came back to bowl his hat-trick ball, which Alastair Cook took a
single off. However, in the same over, Cook tried to loft Ashwin over
long-off and was stumped only for the second time in his career. Pragyan
Ojha built pressure from the other end with maidens. He got Jonathan
Trott plumb lbw with a ball that didn't turn. Kevin Pietersen soon edged
Ashwin to MS Dhoni, and the 33 remaining runs felt like 99.
However, Ashwin released the pressure with a full toss - an attempted
carrom ball - to Bell, who flicked it away for four through midwicket.
How symbolic then that the lack of patience eased England's nerves. Bell
hit two more pretty boundaries, and Compton remained solid, showing no
hurry whatsoever to get off the park. Along the way, the two ran well
and exposed once again the poor fielding of the tired Indian players.
Bell finished it off with a push to square leg, pumped the fist for a
second, kicking off scenes of jubilation in the dressing room. The
England players soon went on a victory lap to acknowledge the great
support they get from their fans in foreign lands, and India were left
with a lot of soul-searching.
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