Indian opener KL Rahul’s magnificent 149 and dashing wicketkeeper batsman Rishab Pant’s maiden century went in vain as England defeated India by 118 runs in the fifth Test at Oval.
Resuming the day at 58/3, Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane added 62 more runs for the fourth wicket before the vice captain’s sweep shot went horribly wrong, resulting him in getting caught by Keaton Jennings off the bowling of Moeen Ali.
Debutant Hanuma Vihari who had scored a half century in the first innings, couldn’t get going in the second one, as he was out caught by wicket keeper Bairstow off Stokes for a duck.
Karnataka opener Rahul then found an able ally in Pant. with the duo adding 214 runs for the 6th wicket to keep the home side at bay and raise hopes for an unlikely Indian victory.
However the partnership came to an end when the much maligned Adil Rashid bowled Rahul for 149 runs. Any hopes India might have harboured were extinguished when Rashid had Pant caught at long off.
The 20 year old scored his maiden century and thereby become the first Indian wicketkeeper to do so in England (something even the great MS Dhoni was unable to) His innings comprised of 15 fours and 4 sixes.
As seen on the Cricket Bunny, Sam Curran has been one of the finds of this tour for England, and the 20 year old struck twice, first having Ishant Sharma caught behind for five, and then getting rid of Indian first innings hero Ravindra Jadeja.
James Anderson put the icing on the cake by getting rid of Mohd Shami, thereby overtaking the legendary Glenn McGrath on the list of all time highest test wicket takers. .
India were eventually bowled out for 345 runs, giving the home side a victory by 118 runs. They therefore won the series 4-1. It was a competitive one, but India’s inability to capitalise on crucial moments at Edgbaston and Southampton lent a more lopsided feel to the scoreline.