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Going into the 4th day of play at Lord's it was more a question of when not if England would complete victory over India in the 2nd Test. With bad weather still lingering around the South East of England, the home side was bound to want to get the job done as soon as possible and they wasted no time in completing victory by an innings and 159 runs. 

The huge margin of victory and the frailty of India's batting line-up was put further into context when it was revealed that the 170.3 overs played in the match represented the 3rd quickest victory (in terms of total overs bowled) in this country over the last 100 years of Test cricket. 

James Anderson took a further 4 wickets in the 2nd innings including that of Kuldeep Yadav who was dismissed for 0 twice in the match 

Report on the day's cricket

The big question at the start of the day was whether England would declare overnight and if they did decide to bat on this morning, how long would they do so for. As it was, they added a further 39 runs in quick fashion with Tom Curran in particular taking the attack to India's bowlers including one forearm smash to a Shami short ball that sailed over the midwicket boundary for 6. Shami himself bowled several virtually unplayable balls to Woakes in that short period and was very unlucky to finish with just 3 wickets and on the losing side. When Sam Curran holed out to deep third man, Joe Root decided enough was enough and called an end to the England innings, by which time the home team had amassed a lead of 289. 

Sam Curran hit's a maximum with a shot that wouldn't have looked out of place on a tennis court 

Light rain was already swirling around the ground by the time the Indian batsmen made their way to the middle with an eager England team already waiting to great them as they walked down the steps. However, whatever rain dance or ritual that India and their supporters had performed last night, wasn't enough and despite the rain causing an early lunch to be taken and a short stoppage in the afternoon, England had adequate time to finish the task. 

First to go was Murali Vijay, who was out once again to Anderson and once again for 0 to complete the dreaded pair. Bowled by a beauty of an outswinger in the first innings, Anderson got him with the inswinger this time around which found the inside edge and flew through to Bairstow. KL Rahul who has not looked likely to stick around at the crease in any of his innings thus far managed just 10 runs before Anderson again produced the inswinger and trapped him in front. Rahane came in at number 4 with Virat Kholi having been off the field for the entire morning with a back injury and rules requiring him to wait for a period of time before taking the field again. He and Pujara at least showed some fight in occupying the crease for nearly an hour until Broad induced an edge from India's Vice-Captain and Jennings took a very smart catch. 

England's slip fielding has come under criticism in recent times but Keaton Jennings completed a great grab to get rid of Rahane 

For a short time thereafter Pujara and Kohli looked to carry on the fight but it was a quintessential Broad burst of wickets that accelerated the game towards its conclusion. Firstly he bowled Pujara whose innnigs of 17 from 87 deliveries was ended by a jaffer from Broad that took the inside edge, hit the pad and then crashed into the stumps. Next to go was Virat Kohli who with England perhaps sensing would be less manoeuvrable than usual, was subjected to some shorter pitched bowling and eventually gloved one from Broad to short-leg. Karthik followed next ball, LBW again to a ball that nipped back to leave India 61-6. Ashwin and Pandya then combined to make India's first 50 partnership of the match but after Pandya had been dismissed by Woakes, the Indian tail was blown away to leave India all out for 130. 

Woakes, Anderson and Pope all grabbed a stump as a souvenir  of the Test 

Analysis of the day's cricket 

If the 1st Test was close and competitive then this was the polar opposite. England have dominated India from ball 1 and will now take tremendous confidence into the remaining games in the series. India on the other hand will have to fix their battered bodies and minds very quickly or they could be facing a series whitewash. They have quite literally had injury added to insult with doubts now surrounding Kohli's fitness after he reported having a stiff back. Ashwin also a couple of blows to his bowling hand while batting this afternoon both of which required lengthy treatment. Whether these knocks will lead to either missing the next Test remains to be seen but they are hardly good news for a side that has had nothing but bad news and luck for the last 72 hours. 

Virat Kohli spent time off the pitch yesterday and today as well as receiving treatment while batting this afternoon. He has stated that he is "hopeful" of playing in the 3rd Test

Certainly from India's point of view, they will feel that they've not had the rub of the green in this match. They lost the toss and were asked to bat in bowler friendly conditions. By comparison England had much easier batting conditions before the clouds returned for India's 2nd innings. However, India can't hide behind those excuses, particularly if they have any ambitions of getting back into this series or at least being competitive. The shot selection of some of their top order batsmen was poor with Vijay, KL Rahul and Karthik all looking completely lost against the swinging ball. When a few of their batsmen did get in, none of them where able to go on and make a sizeable score. Test cricket in such conditions is a very fine balancing act of attack and defence and for me, India's batsmen were far too defensive in their mindsets. While you don't want to go playing extravagant shots in swinging conditions, it's is important to remain positive and look to cash in on any lose deliveries. Granted England didn't afford India many opportunities but when they did the Indian batsmen more often than not did not capitalise. When the ball is doing so much in the air and off the pitch you are eventually going to get a delivery that will get you out and as such batsmen need to take any runs they can before their number is up. 

The run-rates demonstrate that England were both more positive with the bat in hand and more accurate with the ball than India 

The big problem that India now face is that England's seamers are all over them. The memory of this defeat and the way in which the English bowling attack cut through India's line-up will last long in the memories. In fact you could see from the 2nd innings performance by England's bowlers that they were already toying with India's top order. Most of India's batsmen were undone in their first innings by lavish away movement both in the air and off the surface generally leading to edges behind. In the 2nd innings, England's 2 premier bowlers, Anderson and Broad used the memory of those dismissals to set-up India's batsmen for the inswinger bringing in the LBW and bowled. Anderson in particular is a master of his art and the way in which he dismissed both of India's openers was magnificent. 

KL Rahul's dismissals in this Test. The image on the left shows the trajectory of the ball the he was caught behind from in the 1st Innings. The image on the right is the trajectory of the ball that had him LBW in the 2nd innings. Both balls pitched in roughly the same area but moved in opposite directions. 

Finally, let's all spare a thought for Adil Rashid, a man who's selection in the Test side has divided many opinions across the country but for whom in this match may as well have been at home enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate and a bubble bath. Rashid did not bat, he did not bowl and he did not take a catch in the game. At one point when the light was beginning to fade and England still needed a couple of wickets to wrap up the game, it looked like Rashid might just get a bowl. However, it wasn't to be and he becomes the first England player since Gareth Batty in a Test against Bangladesh in 2005 to achieve the feat of having not contributed anything to a match. Good work Adil! 

Adil Rashid keeps his hands warm by high fiving Chris Woakes 


AS ALWAYS, GENUINE COMMENTS WILL RECEIVE AN UPVOTE