England first innings
On a lush green outfield, England captain Joe Root won the toss and decided to bat first. England openers have struggled throughout the series and this time the story was no different as Keaton Jennings fell cheaply to Jasprit Bumrah without troubling the scorers. The bad start turned into a disastrous one as England kept loosing wickets at regular intervals. England were reduced to 86-6 with all of their premier batters back in the hut. Moeen Ali and Sam Curran came together and put up a decent partnership to take the hosts to a respectable total. Sam Curran top scored with 78 runs and Moeen Ali also contributed with well made 40 with England finishing on 246.
All the bowlers used by Indian captain were successful and all of them took at least one wicket. Jasprit Bumrah was the most impressive bowler taking 3 important scalps.
India first innings
India started their first innings with Lokesh Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan on the crease and both of them put on a decent first wicket stand compared to England. Cheteshwar Pujara was the highlight of the Indian innings as he scored 132 without loosing his wicket. Him and Kohli put on a very solid partnership and India were 142 for the loss of two wickets at one point of time before being bundled out for 273 meaning India took a very important lead of 27 runs. Kohli supported Pujara well and scored 46. None of the other Indian batters put a decent individual score.
Moeen Ali proved to be the main destructor with the ball in hand as he removed the Indian lower middle order in a jiffy taking a fifer. He was well supported by Stuart Broad who took three very important scalps.
England second innings
England started their second innings with a deficit of 27 runs as India had already taken the first innings lead. Playing in his penultimate test match, Alastair Cook failed again and could only manage 12 runs while his opening partner Jennings did score 36 this time around to keep the hopes of his selection alive for the final test. Joe Root experimented by sending Mo at number 3 but that didn't work as he was out only managing 9 runs. Root himself played well in the second innings and scored 48 runs before he was run out in an unfortunate way. England again looked in deep trouble as they lost Stokes with lead only being 151 runs but thanks to Jos Buttler and the golden boy Sam Curran who put their hands up and scored some runs to give English bowlers something to bowl on. Buttler top scored in the second innings by making 69 and Sam Curran made 46 with England finishing on 271 meaning India needed 245 runs to win this precious test match.
For India, Mohammad Shami bowled really well and took 4 wickets but I felt that he was introduced very late into the attack and could have made a difference upfront. Ishant Sharma also took two wickets for his team.
India second innings
Needing 245 runs to level the series India got off to a bad start as Lokesh Rahul was undone by a ball which kept very low. Pujara and Dhawan followed soon and India were struggling at 22-3. Kohli and Rahane then put on the first 100 run partnership of the match and both of them completed their half centuries before Kohli fell to Mo. After the fall of Kohli's wicket the Indian decline started and they were bundled out for 184. Barring Kohli and Rahane, none of the Indian batters contributed much with the bat.
Moeen Ali again starred for England in the bowling department as he took 4 important scalps including Kohli and Rahane. He was well supported by the other English bowlers. Moeen Ali was adjudged as man of the match for his all round brilliance.
England won the test by 60 runs.
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