India outplayed England in all facets of the game during the fifth Test in Dharamsala.
Resuming their first innings on 473/8, the hosts were bowled out for 477 early into the morning session on Day 3, securing a massive lead of 259 runs. Shubman Gill (110) and skipper Rohit Sharma (103) starred with the bat with centuries.
Batting in the second innings, the visitors got off to a disastrous start, losing the first three wickets for just 36 runs. Ben Duckett (2), Zak Crawley (0) and Ollie Pope (19) were dismissed cheaply by veteran off-spinner R Ashwin.
While Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow tried to pull things back, wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav ended their 56-run stand by removing the latter for 39. At the stroke of lunch, Ashwin got rid of Ben Stokes for 2 to reduce England to 103/5.
In the post-lunch session, Ashwin knocked over Ben Foakes to claim his 36th five-wicket haul in Test cricket – the most by an Indian bowler. Ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah also showed his magic as he bowled a couple of jaffas in the same over to remove Tom Hartley and Mark Wood.
In the end, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav completed the formalities by dismissing Shoaib Bashir and Joe Root, wrapping England’s second innings for 195 to hand them an embarrassing defeat in the series finale.
Cricket fraternity lauded the Indian bowlers for their clinical performance in England’s second innings, while also congratulating the hosts for their 4-1 series triumph.
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