India vs England, 4th Test at Ahmedabad, Mar 04 2021, England tour of India

RESULT
4th Test, Ahmedabad, March 04 - 06, 2021, England tour of India
205 & 135

India won by an innings and 25 runs

Player Of The Match
101
rishabh-pant
Player Of The Series
189 runs • 32 wkts
ravichandran-ashwin
Match centre 
Scores: Chandan Duorah | Comms: Deivarayan Muthu
Scorecard summary
England 205/10(75.5 overs)
1st INNINGS
55 (121)
4/68 (26)
India 365/10(114.4 overs)
1st INNINGS
101 (118)
4/89 (27.4)
England 135/10(54.5 overs)
2nd INNINGS
50 (95)
5/48 (24)
30 (72)

4.32pm Kohli collects the trophy and hands it over to Axar who bagged four five-wicket hauls in his debut Test series. India have found a new hero in Axar who lifts the trophy and celebrates in front of his home crowd in Ahmedabad. Alan Gardner's report will tell you the full story of the day. That's all she wrote for the Test series. The white-ball leg of the tour begins with the first T20I at the same venue on March 12. The Motera will stage all five T20Is before the teams shift to Pune for the last stop on the tour - a three-match ODI series. We have a smorgasbord of post-match content lined up for you. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, this is Deivarayan Muthu signing off for Andrew Miller, Venkat Raghav and Chandan Duorah. Take care and cheers.

Kohli: I think the comeback [in the second Test] pleased me the most. The first game was an aberration the way we played as a team. The toss played a crucial role and I don't think the bowlers were in the game at all. The comeback and the way we batted in the second Test match in Chennai... Yes, Axar and Washington are ready and the idea was to have youngsters who came in and perform with fearlessness. Rishabh and Washi did it with that game-changing partnership and Axar too. Well, we're obviously happy to win the series, but there are always things to improve. Nothing is a given because every team is an international side. In the future, we will have hiccups, but we have to keep ironing them out. Well, Ashwin has been banker for us for the past six-seven years in Test cricket. Rohit's knock was the most defining moment in us coming back [in the series]. Getting 150 on that pitch was as good as getting 250 and it got us into the contest. Throughout the series, he got important knocks and partnerships. Now, we can accept and admit that we are in the WTC final; it was a distraction for us. It did become a bit of distraction for us in New Zealand, but we took it one game at a time since.

Ashwin, Man of the Series: The fact that we qualified for the WTC final (is the most pleasing aspect of this victory). These were challenging passages of play...I actually can't put thought into it and say how well the last four months have been. It has been a ride. I didn't think I'll make a hundred in Chennai. I just came in and went with the flow. I can sit back now. What really has made the difference is the confidence the team management has put in me. I didn't go to Australia, thinking I will start. Jadeja's injury - obviously it wasn't a good thing - but Ravi bhai and Virat gave me confidence. This is one of the best runs in my career. Being desperate is one of the worst situations to be in as a cricketer. Being content is not the greatest [thing] but being happy is also important for me. Every pitch and every situation is different and this is where I find myself in. I love to live through it. What Rishabh has gone through the last couple of years is amazing. Sometimes he comes and tells me Ash bhai I take these catches often in club cricket and in the IPL. He has been beyond excellent. Axar is someone who came in to replace Jaddu and I thought he delivered for us. I thought his bowling was excellent and very, very accurate for his first series.

This is Ashwin's eighth Man-of-the-Series award, notes Gaurav Sundararaman. Only two players have won more such awards. He joins an elite list

As a lot of our feedbackers have pointed out, Ashwin has also surpassed Ambrose's Test tally and is closing in on Wasim and Harbhajan.

Rishabh Pant gets his props for Most Audacious Moment of the Match, or some such, for his reverse-sweep off Anderson, and Washington Sundar is the Game-Changer... really? I mean he was good, but who's quibbling...

But here's the big one, The Man of the Match is Rishabh Pant

"The drills have helped, and my confidence has helped, I've transferred it from my batting to my keeping. This was a very important innings, especially with the team under pressure.

"We were in a tough situation at 146 for 6, and there's nothing better than performing when the team needs you the most. If I get the chance to reverse-flick a fast bowler again, I definitely would."

4.15pm Right, presentations time.

Joe Root: "The last three games have been testing for us but credit to India, they've outplayed us. We've got to improve individually and become a better side for this experience. In key areas of the game, India grabbed them and we didn't. Rishabh's innings was one, but at no stage did we lie down. We didn't score the runs that we would have liked, they've outplayed us on the surfaces in front of us, and good luck to them in the (WTC) Final."

"Rotation, there are different ways to look at it, this is the world we are living in, it's a big year of cricket, three formats to consider, and we can't keep playing guys until they fall over."

"As a batter you pride yourself on your runs," he adds, saying his 200 trumps his five-for.

4.11pm It's worth a look at England's batting averages for the winter to get an understanding of how far adrift they have been against spin. Even Joe Root has fallen away in the past three Tests, but he still scored nearly as many runs in each of his three hundreds that any of his team-mates managed all tour

4pm Nearly time for the presentations. The end of an arduous campaign for England, but the tour is not done yet. We've got the T20Is to come next week.

Farooq : "What a fitting end to the series as both Axar and Ashwin bag a fifer" 27 for Axar in a three-Test debut series, including four five-fors. Can't argue with those numbers!

Ravi Shastri has been talking to Star Sports. "The scoreline doesn't reflect how close it was," he says, in summary. And he's got a point. 1-1 after two, and had England found a fraction more resolve with the bat in the third Test, and closed out their surge before Pant's onslaught here in the fourth, the finales could have been rather more tense. But ifs and buts don't win many series!

Vivek Rao: "Axar, Ashwin, Rishabh and Sundar have done it for India. Great job. But credit will go to the one who did precious little in the match... Kohli. That's the way the cookie crumbles." Well ... he is the victorious captain, so he's done something right! But I really don't think he'll be snaffling their limelight today. Four very special performances here.

3.50pm Handshakes all round, as Ahmedabad serves up a two-for-one Test debut. India rattle to wins by 10 wickets and an innings-and-25-runs in the space of five days, to close out a series that had been intriguingly locked after the Chennai leg. But India's spinners had the keys, as did Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar with the bat. In particular, Pant's vicious onslaught on the second evening will live long in the memory.

Emanuel Raj: "Did anyone noticed that India is a bowler short, Ishant didn't take the field in the Second Innings. That's the quality of this Indian side, hardly anyone talk about Ishant not on the field. Can we agree that real difference is the quality not the combination. Not the pitch. Never the pitch." Almost never the pitch. My personal opinion is that the third Test was too loaded for the spinners, as shown by Joe Root's 5 for 8. But then, that might equally have been the pink-ball factor, so who really knows! Certainly it's no excuse for a drubbing when it's clear that India were able to score freely at both Chennai and here.

Vishal Dwivedi: "Anderson last inning..in india...well.played mate" Ha, don't let him hear that. I bet he thinks he could be back here aged 43.

Meanwhile, Gaurav notes that Ashwin is in exclusive allround company, with 30 wickets and 180 runs for the series. And if you didn't know that was a thing, it is now!


54.5
W
Ashwin to Lawrence, OUT

a big wipe through the line, and Ashwin seals it with a five-for! Lawrence going for his century of runs for the match, aims a flat-footed mow, chooses the wrong line, and gets his bails trimmed. An inelegant finish, but he's shown his ticker. But this is India's moment now. A 3-1 win, and they are off to the World Test Championship final in June.

Dan Lawrence b Ashwin 50 (95b 6x4 0x6 112m) SR: 52.63
54.4
Ashwin to Lawrence, no run

turning down the leg side

sasidhar: "54.1 - Offspin bowler bowling to left hander is indeed leg spin, correct?" Technically, yes. But it all gets too confusing

54.3
1
Ashwin to Anderson, 1 run

propping onto the front foot, and nudged to the leg side

Here's Jimmy.

Dan Lawrence is the first England batsman to make a second-innings fifty, notes Sampath. At least Leach played his part in making that happen

54.2
W
Ashwin to Leach, OUT

a soft-handed snaffle from Rahane, and there goes another! The TV umpires are checking, but the soft signal is out. Another ripper across the left-hander's bows, this time it kisses the splice as it passes, and with fingers splayed at slip, Rahane scoops up his second, inches from the turf

Jack Leach c Rahane b Ashwin 2 (31b 0x4 0x6 33m) SR: 6.45
54.1
Ashwin to Leach, no run

massive spin! Ripped like a leg-break (in a mirror, obviously), and straight past the edge

end of over 542 runs
ENG: 134/8CRR: 2.48 
Jack Leach2 (29b)
Dan Lawrence50 (93b 6x4)
Axar Patel 24-6-48-5
Ravichandran Ashwin 22-4-46-3
53.6
1
Axar Patel to Leach, 1 run

nudged into the gap to double his score. Leach has the tekkers to loiter here

53.5
Axar Patel to Leach, no run

head aligned, focussed on the front foot. Firm

53.4
Axar Patel to Leach, no run

solidly forward to block

53.3
Axar Patel to Leach, no run

a looping chance off the pad, just out of reach! Short leg sprawls but can't cling on as he dives down the wicket... but there was no bat. As you were

53.2
1
Axar Patel to Lawrence, 1 run

on the back foot, making room to chop into the covers, and Lawrence brings up a very hard-earned fifty! A glimmer for England at the end of a dispiriting Test. Finishing his winter as he started it

53.1
Axar Patel to Lawrence, no run

punched into the covers

end of over 53Maiden
ENG: 132/8CRR: 2.49 
Jack Leach1 (25b)
Dan Lawrence49 (91b 6x4)
Ravichandran Ashwin 22-4-46-3
Washington Sundar 4-0-16-0

A couple of clips for viewers in the US: How Pant had Pope stumped, and Ashwin accounts for Crawley

52.6
Ashwin to Leach, no run

flashed back to the bowler on the front foot

52.5
Ashwin to Leach, no run

punched with lots of bottom hand to mid-off

52.4
Ashwin to Leach, no run

wider line, Leach is happy to play inside the line this time

52.3
Ashwin to Leach, no run

poked to the off side

52.2
Ashwin to Leach, no run

This time Leach is gone! Or is he? He's reviewing! Similar length, more of a leg-stump line with more sharp turn. Caught-behind is the verdict, but if it's flicked the pad, lbw may be in play. Indeed, there's no edge. But here comes Ball Tracker for the lbw... pitched outside leg. Leach survives his double jeopardy. Wouldn't have stood in a court of law either...

52.1
Ashwin to Leach, no run

sharp turn from a very full length, zings past the edge as Leach stabs onto the front foot

Dan Lawrence, lone avenger, digs deep for England. Can he and Jack Leach take it to the fourth innings? Only one way to find out...

Alex the Pole: "Jack Leach on 1* brings back memories. England may not win but he could be instrumental in bringing about Lawrence's well-deserved half-century"

end of over 522 runs
ENG: 132/8CRR: 2.53 
Dan Lawrence49 (91b 6x4)
Jack Leach1 (19b)
Washington Sundar 4-0-16-0
Ravichandran Ashwin 21-3-46-3

3.31pm It's drinks and time to welcome back Miller for the coup de grace.

51.6
Sundar to Lawrence, no run

played back to the bowler

51.5
Sundar to Lawrence, no run

on a length and spins in, defended back to the bowler

51.4
Sundar to Lawrence, no run

looped up outside off, heaved to square leg off the inner half

Best performances - batters
Spike Graph
Wagon Zone
RR Pant
101 runs (118)
13 fours2 sixes
Productive shot
cover drive
17 runs
3 fours0 six
Control
86%
Washington Sundar
96 runs (174)
10 fours1 six
Productive shot
straight drive
18 runs
3 fours1 six
Control
91%
Best performances - bowlers
AR Patel
O
24
M
6
R
48
W
5
ECO
2
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
3W
1W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
R Ashwin
O
22.5
M
4
R
47
W
5
ECO
2.05
FTYFGSGS
OFFLEG
RHB
1W
2W
1W
LEGOFF
LHB
1W
Match details
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
TossEngland, elected to bat first
Series
Season2020/21
Player Of The Match
Player Of The Series
Series resultIndia won the 4-match series 3-1
Match numberTest no. 2414
Hours of play (local time)09.30 start, Lunch 11.30-12.10, Tea 14.10-14.30, Close 16.30
Match days4,5,6 March 2021 - day (5-day match)
Umpires
TV Umpire
Reserve Umpire
Match Referee
PointsIndia 30, England 0
AskESPNcricinfo Logo
Instant answers to T20 questions
England Innings
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ICC World Test Championship
TEAMMWLDPTRPWR
IND1712415201.577
ENG2111734421.12
NZ117404201.281
AUS148423321.392
PAK124532860.822
SA135802640.787
SL122642000.729
WI133821940.661
BAN7061200.601