“I was pretty focused on this game, a chance to seal the series”, said Kohli, adding that the plan was to get stick in.
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Despite Kohli’s incredible form, there is not much doubt that Ravichandran Ashwin is India’s biggest match-winner in Test cricket now and he showed us why with a 12-wicket haul in Mumbai.
Following that dismissal, there were words exchanged between Ashwin and James Anderson (2) and umpire Marais Erasmus had to intervene.
This is only the third time that a team has suffered an innings defeat after scoring 400 runs or more in the first innings of a Test. England losing to Australia at The Oval in 1930 and Sri Lanka going down to England in Cardiff in 2011 are the only previous instances.
With this win India have also taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in five-match Test series. The fourth test also saw many records.
India’s players celebrate after beating England in Mumbai.
Resuming on day five at 182-6, England needed some fearless resistance from their tail to have any hope of forcing a draw, but folded meekly and were bowled out for 195.
“If you have to take 14 wickets against these batters in these conditions, it puts you behind a bit”.
The neat sequence of one success per Ashwin over continued when Adil Rashid was compliant with a flick straight into the hands of deep midwicket. Ashwin wasn’t pleased with whatever Anderson had said in the press conference.
With 247 wickets from 43 Tests, the off-spinner will soon become the fastest to 250 wickets. “I am not joking and I am not being sarcastic, but that is the best advice I got”.
Warner came with another superlative performance in the third ODI in Melbourne where he scored 156 in an innings where the next highest score was 37 by Head. “We’re very proud of that, and for me as a captain, this is definitely on top”, Kohli told reporters after the match. There’s not that pace in the wicket to get the nicks, like we did against him in England with a bit more movement.Pitches like this suit him down to the ground. But with the side we had, we had opportunities to bowl India out for 400 and we just didn’t take them. But clearly when you bat first, you didn’t need that extra seamer. They left all wickets by making 195 runs. Yes, I have worked hard on my game, but it’s the team that has helped me play the way I can, play with the same mindset. And also they scored a minimum rurs to the scoreboard which was nearly 400 by losing all wickets.
He was also all praises for off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, whose six-wicket haul also helped India bag the series. He was reluctant to compare this India team with others in history, but said the current side was “special”.
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India inflicted an innings and 36-run defeat on England to follow up their wins over Sri Lanka (in Lanka), South Africa (in India), West Indies (in WI) and New Zealand (in India) in that order. “We knew this game was wrapped up when we got the 231-run lead”.
