England beat India by an innings and 76 runs in the third Test played at Headingley, Leeds. India was bowled out for 78 runs in the first innings and never recovered from the early horror. Team India collapsed again for 278 in the second innings against the second new ball.
Former England captain Sir Geoffrey Boycott opined that England won the 3rd Test because they played the new ball better than their opponents. He also said that negating the new ball has a great impact on Tests.
"England won the Headingley Test because they played the new ball better than India. Negating the new ball is so crucial in Test matches and has a big impact on who wins the game. It gives the whole team a platform to go forward with confidence.
England's top three scored 199 runs. It was priceless. Look at India. Virat Kohli won the toss and lost the Test by batting first on a damp pitch with overcast skies. They were four down at lunch because his batsman failed against the new ball," wrote Boycott in his column for The Telegraph.
The former batsman wrote about the collapse in the second innings.
"In the second innings, they failed again but that time against the second new ball at the start of Day 4. Eight wickets went down for only 63 runs in 19 overs,” he wrote.
Boycott said that the hosts can repeat what did in the third Test if they remain consistent. "England has been crying out for consistent starts, so do it again at the Oval and they will be halfway to going 2-1 up,” he opined.
The former captain praised Haseeb Hamid for his 68 runs while opening the innings but added that he went into a shell on the second day as the Indian bowlers bowled tight lines.
"I liked Haseeb Hameed's footwork. It was lovely but it was interesting that when he batted on the first day and the Indian bowlers were striving for wickets, they bowled a few balls off line and Hameed picked them off nicely, scoring boundaries,” wrote the 80-year old.
"Next morning India was much smarter. They bowled tight, squeezed the pressure on him and he hardly made a run which contributed to him getting out. India was smart and now he has to learn from that because it will be a definite plan for India to try again.
When they bottle him up and dry up his runs he has to work out a method to combat that. England will want to see him battling and coming through this new challenge," concluded Boycott.
The next Test will be played at The Oval starting from 2 September.
(With PTI inputs)
