England vs India 5th Test, Day 5, Review: Rahul and Pant's efforts couldn't script a fairytale ending for the visitors

On the dying stages of the fourth day, India were well and truly rocked by the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. but KL Rahul played some gorgeous strokes to end the day on a positive note for the visiting team. He and  Ajinkya Rahane put on 56 runs and remained not out. However, India were still in with a daunting task on the last day of their campaign on English soil.

The Brits had their nose ahead and would’ve wanted to warp the Indian innings at the earliest. But that wasn’t the case as the visitors stayed put on their wickets and took the attack to the opposition bowling attack. In the end, it was the Poms who held their nerves and slapped India with a defeat by 118 runs at Kennington Oval in London. Moreover, they also bagged the series 4-1.

Rahul takes on the English attack

Rahul and Rahane carried on the good work from yesterday and cobbled together a stand of 118 runs. It was off-spinner Moeen Ali who eventually broke the ominous-looking partnership by dismissing Rahane for 37 runs owing to a mistimed sweep from the batsman. Hanuma Vihari couldn’t open his account and fell prey to a gentle out-swinging delivery from fast bowler Ben Stokes.

In the meantime, Rahul accomplished his first half-century of the series, much to his relief. Rishabh Pant joined him thereafter. Rahul went on to notch his Test first century on English soil as India added 109 runs in 27 overs in the session. Pant also lent him the support he required. However, with five wickets remaining and two sessions to play out, the visitors still had a task on their hands.

Pant and Rahul steady the ship

The second session completely belonged to India as Pant and Rahul played out the entire 31 overs and scored 131 runs. More precisely, the wicket-keeper batsman dominated most of the proceedings as Rahul played second fiddle. Pant looked at ease and didn’t allow the English bowlers to settle by any stretch of the imaginations. He entered the 90s with a monstrous blow off Adil Rashid.

Surprisingly, he didn’t nurture any inhibitions even in the 90s and went for an outrageous stroke off the leg-spinner. Fortunately, he connected and he erupted in ecstasy for his first century in international cricket. Meanwhile, the partnership put on 178 runs and all of a sudden India were left with 166 runs to win the match from the final session, something which didn’t seem insurmountable.

England prevails

Both resumed and didn’t stop playing attacking cricket. Just when it seemed as if the visiting team would snatch an improbable victory from the jaws of defeat, Rashid produced a corker of a delivery from around the wicket. The ball pitched outside the leg stump and spun past Rahul’s bat to clatter into the stumps.

A couple of overs later, Pant played a horrendous stroke to throw his wicket away. He tried to clear long-off only to hole out to Moeen. India still had 24 overs to play out in order to save the match. Ishant Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja played out eight more overs after which Sam Curran removed Ishant.

Jadeja looked good for 45 balls, but couldn’t survive the venom spewed by Curran. James Anderson cleaned up Mohammed Shami to not only surpass Glenn McGrath as the fast-bowler with the most number of Test wickets (364) but also comprehensively close out the series.

Brief Scores

England: 332 all out in 122 overs; (Jos Buttler 89, Alastair Cook 71; Ravindra Jadeja 4/79, Ishant Sharma 3/62)

India: 292 all out in 95 overs; (Ravindra Jadeja 86, Hanuma Vihari 56; Moeen Ali 2/50, James Anderson 2/54)

England: 423/8 dec in 112.3 overs; (Alastair Cook 147, Joe Root 125; Hanuma Vihari 3/37, Ravindra Jadeja 1/179)

India: 345 all out in 94.3 overs overs; (KL Rahul 149, Rishabh Pant 114; James Anderson 3/45, Sam Curran 2/23)

England won the match by 118 runs and clinch the series 4-1

Player of the Match: Alastair Cook

England’s Man of the Series: Sam Curran

India’s Man of the Series: Virat Kohli

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