India continued their brilliant run in Tests by winning their 5th consecutive series on the trot which is an Indian record. They are now unbeaten in their last 17 Tests and with a long home season in front of them they will look to add to that tally. Kohli won his 13th Test as skipper helping India to an unassailable 3-0 lead in the 5 match Test series. If India remains unbeaten in the last Test of the series then they will set an Indian record of being unbeaten in 18 Tests. What would have been heartening for India was the welcome return to form of Murali Vijay and the composure shown by Jayant Yadav with the bat. Throughout the series most of the players in the playing XI have made valuable contributions at crucial times and that is why India are sitting pretty in the series. 3 Indian batsmen scored centuries and Ashwin and Jadeja took the bulk of the wickets. Here is the complete match report.

The wicket for the 4th Test at the Wankhede was one that was expected to turn and assist the spinners. The pitch has more bounce than any other ground in India and that makes for good cricket as the batsmen get full value for shots. It also keeps the bowlers interested if they are willing to bend their backs. Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat. Keaton Jennings showed composure that was commendable for a man making his debut. He played with a lot of positivity and kept the score ticking along at a brisk rate. He put on 99 runs for the first wicket with Alastair Cook before the latter was stumped by Parthiv Patel off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja.

Jennings became the 101st player to score a century on debut in Tests. England were coasting at 230/2 when Moeen Ali tried to slog Ashwin and was caught by Karun Nair. There was a mini collapse for England and they were 249/5. Jos Buttler came to the crease and showed his growing maturity as a cricketer by taking the time to play himself in. He soon played some blistering strokes and hit Ashwin for a huge six over mid-wicket. Parthiv Patel caught Chris Woakes off the bowling of Jadeja and Jake Ball off the bowling of Ashwin. Buttler (4×6, 6×1) was the last man dismissed for 76 when he was bowled by Jadeja.
England had scored 400 and it looked a formidable total considering the state of the pitch. Ashwin took 6 wickets for 112 runs. In reply, India lost KL Rahul early, but Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara steadied the ship with a 100-run partnership. Virat Kohli came to the crease at the fall of Pujara’s wicket and played one of his best and the most crucial innings of his career. He put on 116 runs for the 3rd wicket with Vijay and while the pair was at the crease, India looked to be cruising towards a first innings lead. However, Vijay was caught and bowled by Adil Rashid after a well-made 136. Parthiv Patel scored 15 before he was caught by Bairstow off the bowling of Joe Root.

India lost four wickets in quick succession and were 307/6. However, the lower order came to India’s rescue as they have done so often in this series and Jadeja scored a valuable 25 before he was caught by Buttler trying to hit Rashid out of the ground. At the other end, Kohli was making batting look ridiculously easy and was capitalising on every scoring opportunity. Even though Kohli is an ODI player of great pedigree, in Tests he prefers not to hit the ball in the air but still maintains a good strike rate. Jayant Yadav also gave him admirable support and India ended the 3rd day’s play at 451/7, with a lead of 51.

For England to have any hope in the match, they needed to bowl India out quickly on the 4th morning to keep the lead to within manageable proportions. However, Kohli and Jayant Yadav had other ideas. Jayant Yadav matched Kohli shot for shot and the pair put the English attack to the sword. England had as many as 7 bowlers in their playing XI and it was inevitable that some of them would be under bowled. Kohli was in imperious form and soon reached his double century. He became just the 3rd captain to score 3 double centuries in a calendar year. Jayant Yadav also became the first Indian to score a century batting at the number 9 position in Tests. Kohli selflessly sacrificed his wicket in the quest for quick runs in order to declare the innings. His 235 was the highest score by an Indian captain in Tests. India were bowled out for 631 and they had a lead of 231.

Even though the wicket was taking prodigious turn, Kohli opened the bowling with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and this decision turned to be a masterstroke. He got the wicket of Keaton Jennings, who was plumb LBW in the very 1st over and it put England on the back foot. Jadeja struck by taking the wickets of Cook and Moeen Ali in quick succession and England were reduced to 49/3. Joe Root realised that the only way to salvage the situation was to attack the spinners and get rid of the close in fielders.  He repeatedly swept both Ashwin and Jadeja and England were scoring their runs at a brisk rate. However, Jayant Yadav trapped Root in front with a quicker delivery and that spelled doom for England. Jake Ball was sent in as a night watchman and he was smartly caught by Parthiv off the bowling of Ashwin off the last ball of the 4th day’s play.

On the 5th morning, Ashwin was almost unplayable with his variations and the English batsmen struggled to read him. James Anderson was the last man to be dismissed when he flicked Ashwin straight into the safe hands of Umesh Yadav at mid-on. Ashwin claimed 6 wickets for 55 runs in England’s 2nd innings. Buttler was unbeaten on 6 and India won the match by an innings and 36 runs. Kohli was declared the Man of the Match for his brilliant innings.
The 5th and final Test starts at Chennai on the 16th of December.