England made a stunning comeback to beat India during the first Test in Hyderabad on Sunday.
Chasing a target of 231 runs, India were dismissed for 202 on the fourth day.
Spinner Tom Hartley was the pick of the bowlers for England in the second innings as he bagged figures of 7 for 62 in 26.2 overs.
Indian batters failed considerably during the chase in the second innings as key players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer couldn’t contribute enough runs to chase down the decent target.
Skipper Rohit Sharma top-scored for the home side by scoring 39 runs courtesy of seven fours in the second innings.
India were 119-7 in 40.2 overs after they had lost all of their primary batters. It looked like a done deal for the visitors then Ravichandran Ashwin and Srikar Bharat’s 57-run partnership brought the hosts back in the game.
However, that was enough as both set batters became the victims of Hartley who eventually bagged the last wicket of Mohammad Siraj as well and led England to the win.
Earlier in England’s second innings, they were trailing by 190 runs as India posted 436 runs in their first innings in reply to the visitors’ 246.
Ollie Pope was England’s undisputed hero of the match as the right-handed batter’s resilient 196-run innings not only put Ben Stokes’ men back in the game but also helped them set a decent 231-run target.
Pope missed out on his well-deserved double-century by losing his wicket to Jasprit Bumrah.
Ben Foakes (34), Rehan Ahmed (28) and Hartley (34) scored crucial runs down the order.
Scores in Brief
England: 246 all out in the first innings
India: 436 all out in their first innings
England: 420 all out in their second innings
India: 202 all out in their second innings
Schedule for remaining India vs England matches
2nd Test: February 2-6 (Friday-Tuesday) - Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam,
3rd Test: February 15-19 (Thursday-Monday) - Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot
4th Test: February 23-27 (Friday-Tuesday) - JSCA International Stadium Complex, Ranchi
5th Test: March 7-11 (Thursday-Monday) - Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala