India Lose 4th Test and Series to England

What could have made for an exciting fifth test match later this week if India had won the 4th and drawn the five-match series was not to be, unfortunately. The visitors capitulated to a 60-run defeat in the fourth test match against England, handing the series to the hosts 3-1. Chasing a target of 245 in the second innings, India only managed 184 before being bowled out. Like the three earlier test matches, this too saw a result by the end of the fourth day.

The final day of the test as it turned out to be began with Mohammad Shami bowling out tail-ender Stuart Broad, and Ishant Sharma running out Sam Curran, as England put up a modest total of 245 for India to chase in their second innings. With nearly two full days to go in the test, this was expected to be the case as India was coming off of a definitive win from the last match. However, batting woes seemed to continue to plague them, certainly in the top order, and KL Rahul quickly left the crease, as did Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara, with less than 30 runs on the board.

Both the Indian captain and vice-captain had to come together to steady the ship, and when they looked set to score the big runs in a calm and collected manner, Moeen Ali spoiled what would have been a near-epic narrative of their heroics, taking Virat Kohli’s wicket when he was on 58, and getting Ajinkya Rahane LBW when he was on 51. From here, the tell-tale collapse was put into effect, and with almost an hour of play left on the 4th day, India had been defeated.

The fifth and final test of the series will begin at 15:30 IST (10:30 GMT) on the 7th of September, 2018, at the Kensington Oval in London.