England win 1st Test against India

After the miracle in Brisbane, India comes crashing down to Earth to lose the first Test match to England in Chennai. Needing 9 wickets to win the Test on Day 5, Jimmy Anderson starred for the visitors. The old warhorse picked up 3 wickets on the final day to hand England a famous victory away from home. This was a crushing defeat for India, who have now been beaten in Tests for only the second time since 2012 at home.

The day started on a perfect note for England with the wicket of Cheteshwar Pujara. The Saurashtra batsman had been integral to India’s Day 5 rear-guards in Sydney and Brisbane and his wicket was crucial on the fifth morning. Jack Leach got another ball to turn from a good length and nick Pujara’s outside edge and fall straight into the hands of Ben Stokes at slip.

Shubman Gill continued to play his strokes and looked comfortable at the crease as he reached his 3rd half-century in Test matches. However, just as Gill reached his 50, the game turned on its head as James Anderson came into the attack. Like a fine wine, Anderson continues to get better with age and his first over of the day was of the highest quality. Of his 2nd delivery, he reversed the old ball back into Shubman Gill to send his off-stump cartwheeling. 2 balls later he produced a near-identical delivery to get the Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane out. He later also took the dangerous wicket of Rishabh Pant, who failed to replicate his heroics in Brisbane or Sydney.

Virat Kohli continued India’s fightback along with R Ashwin with the Indian captain looking back to his imperious best after a brief hiatus due to paternity leave. Kohli played an almost faultless inning and was only out of control for 4 shots throughout his innings according to Cricinfo. To do that on a day five pitch in Asia against a strong bowling attack is just another example of his genius. It took a special delivery to dismiss the Indian captain. The ball from Ben Stokes hit the footmarks and kept unnaturally low to clatter into his off-stump and dismiss Kohli as well as all hope of an Indian miracle.

Jack Leach picked up 4 wickets in the innings as England wrapped up the tail promptly to win the 1st Test by 227 runs. This was a major milestone for Joe Root’s England side, who have now won 6 Tests in a row in Asia for the first time. For India and Virat Kohli, it will be a disappointing defeat. India prides themselves on their performances at home but was outplayed from Day 1 of the game in Chennai. India has only lost 1 out of their last 35 games in home conditions, but worryingly Kohli has now lost his last 4 Tests as captain. 

England has also jumped to first on the ICC World Test Championship Table and will need to win the series by at least 2 Tests to seal a spot in the final. India on the other hand have dropped to fourth in the table and will have to win this series 2-1 or 3-1 to stand a chance of facing New Zealand in the final.