Mumbai, Nov 26 (BBCI): England beat India by 10 wickets on the fourth day of the second Test at the Wankhede Stadium to level series 1-1. After losing comprehensively in Ahmedabad, England outplayed India in Mumbai and made a strong comeback in the four-Test series. The two teams will now battle it out in the third Test in Kolkata.
After wrapping up India’s second innings for 142, Alastair Cook and Nick Compton chased down the 57-run target in just 58 deliveries. Compton, the dominant partner in the chase, was not out on 30, while Cook remained unbeaten on 18 to win the game comfortably with more than a day and a half left in the Test.
Earlier, continuing from where they had left off yesterday, Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann ran through the rest of the Indian line-up early in the morning session. Resuming on 117 for seven, India were bowled out after adding just 25 runs to their overnight total.
Harbhajan Singh who has two Test centuries to his credit commenced the day by lofting Monty Panesar over mid-off for a boundary. However, after hitting the left-arm spinner for a couple of boundaries in the first over of the day, the No.9 bat departed in the next one. In his attempt to cut Graeme Swann, Harbhajan was caught at first slip by Jonathan Trott to leave India on 128 for eight. He was then replaced by Zaheer Khan. But, three runs later, Zaheer Khan perished while trying to sweep Panesar. The ball took the top edge and went high in the air, before landing safely in the hands of Matt Prior. Gambhir and Pragyan Ojha then added 11 runs for the last wicket, before the former who had survived a strong lbw appeal off Panesar a bit earlier was out leg-before to Swann, thereby missing out on an opportunity to carry his bat through the innings.
Swann completed his four-for with the last wicket, while Panesar finished with a six-wicket haul in the second innings. The Panesar took 11 wickets in the game, while Swann finished the match with eight scalps.
Man-of-the-Match: Kevin Pietersen who took the game away from India with a magnificent 186 in the first innings
Brief scores:
At the end of Day 4: India 2nd innings 142 all out in 41.1 overs (G Gambhir 65; M Panesar 6/81, G Swann 4/43); England 1st innings 58/0 in 9.4 overs (N Compton 30*, A Cook 18*)
At the end of Day 3: England 1st innings 413 all out in 121.3 overs (K Pietersen 186, A Cook 122; PP Ojha 5/143); India 2nd innings 117/7 in 33 overs (G Gambhir 53*, H Singh 1*; M Panesar 5/61, G Swann 2/39)
At the end of Day 2: India 1st innings 327 all out in 115.1 overs (C Pujara 135, R Ashwin 68; M Panesar 5/129, G Swann 4/70); England 1st innings 178/2 in 65 overs (A Cook 87*, K Pietersen 62*; PP Ojha 2/65)
At the end of Day 1: India 1st innings 266/6 in 90 overs (C Pujara 114*, R Ashwin 60*; M Panesar 4/91)