At the start of the fifth and final day of the first Test of the series, the hosts India had a huge task of combatting the English bowling line up for 98 overs. Improbable, but not impossible, India walked into the pitch hoping for another miraculous turnaround, but in the end, the task proved to be too big, even for the power-packed Indian batting line up studded with Chetehswar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane.
England handed India their first Test defeat at home in four years by a huge margin of 227 runs and more than the loss, it's the steamrolling in every single department that would be hurting the home team.
India had to own the first session of the final day as they had already lost Rohit Sharma the day before, and their hopes of avoiding defeat were hinging on the shoulders of Pujara while Gill was expected to play as per the situation of the game. Pujara was to be the main man if India were to salvage a draw in the first Test and for England the prime target.
Banking on his spin twins to do a lot of the damage, Joe Root started the proceedings with the left-arm spinner Leach from the one end. The left-arm offie who earlier had got the better of Rohit with a peach that turned away from the right-hander’s middle stump, produced yet another jaffa to get the most-prized scalp of Pujara. Pujara was guilty of closing the face of his bat against a delivery that appeared to be going down the leg side before turning sharply and took the slice of his bat.
England were cock-a-hoop at the sight of Pujara’s departure as it opened up the game from both the ends, but the threat of Virat Kohli remained as the Indian skipper joined a fluent Shubman Gill at the crease.
Gill put his life's learning into practice making sure that he did not allow either Leach or Bess to settle down in their line of attack. He was quick on his feet to advance down the track to the pitch of the ball against a tossed-up ball while rocked back onto the backfoot whenever they allowed him the luxury of a second line of defence. He neither committed himself on the front foot as Rohit Sharma did on the fourth day and nor played the first line of the delivery like Pujara who got beaten with the ball turning away from him.
For a brief period of time, both him and Kohli were looking to dig in for big innings, but Root was proactive to introduce James Anderson in the attack to see if the veteran could find any help off the pitch.
Root was aware of the help Ishant and Bumrah got on the fourth day and expected Anderson to play a similar role.
Anderson did not look at his best in the first innings but decided to cash in on the opportunity when it mattered the most for the England side. In the very first over of his spell, he breached the defence of Shubman Gill with a ball that swung viciously in the air.
Gill the batsman looks pure in his technique but has a trigger movement back and across in his crease, and Anderson, with all the experience of 600 Test wickets was smart enough to push the length of his delivery further up to find the gap between Gill’s pad and bat.
Anderson is a master of reverse swing and with Gill’s dismissal he was able to get it going in Chennai. The next man in, Ajinkya Rahane understandably was worried about prodding forward against his balls. He tentatively left the first ball that swung away from his body, while got flummoxed against the next on that tailed in at low bounce. Struck on his pads, he was saved on the mercy of umpire Nitin Menon who found him outside the line of the off-stump. Anderson was in the relentless mood and it turned out to be a nightmare for Rahane as the right-hander who could not quite handle the extravagant movement inside towards him.
Two wickets in an over and India’s hopes of surviving the final day were all but squashed in the span of an over by Anderson.
The wonder-boy for India in the last few games, Rishabh Pant had another crisis to deal with but it was not to be his day as Anderson was too wily for him. An off-cutter from around the wicket found Pant playing early towards the leg side and Root was more than delighted to pouch the catch at the short cover position.
Anderson finished his spell with his figure reading 5-3-6-3 and the three wickets of Gill, Rahane and Pant broke the backbone of the Indian batting order and shattered any chance of their survival in the Test.
At the other end, Virat Kohli was playing after a long time but appeared to be batting on a different pitch to his teammates on the final day. Kohli looked watchful and under control against almost all the bowlers. He watched the ball like a hawk and played it late on the backfoot against spinners, while against Anderson, he was out of the crease to negate the reverse swing that his most famous nemesis was extracting in the air.
He had a zero false shot percentage against Anderson who was whopping the ball round compared to 34 per cent by his teammates.
Next up after Pant's dismissal was Washington Sundar who has had a prolific run with the bat in hand. Second-highest run-getter for India in the first innings, his wings were trimmed short by a possessed Jack Leach who looked on a mission redeem himself after the rumbling he received at the hands of Pant on the third day.
Defending 98 0vers on the final day was anyway a tough task, and the first session was touted to be very crucial for both the side. England emerged as the clear winner as India were left with only Kohli and Ashwin who could pose a serious threat to the tourists on a fifth-day pitch. Leach showed that there was enough in him to keep challenging the batsmen every now and then and he found the edge of Ashwin’s bat once more in the game.
With Ashwin gone back to the pavilion, the writing was on the wall for the hosts, and it was reduced to a mere formality when Ben Stokes crashed through the impregnable defence of Virat Kohli. The ball did not bounce enough for Kohli but just did enough to sneak through the gate. Kohli was found short after batting with so much control, but the wicket established England’s perfect planning and spotting the area of pitch they had to target and then finally executing more than Kohli’s failure at that moment.
Leach finished with a four-wicket haul while Anderson took three wickets in that match-winning spell and England went 1-0 up in the series leaving a lot at stake for the hosts in the remaining three Tests of the series.
England were coming off from a triumphant series in Sri Lanka while India too were buoyant after historic series win in Australia, but the loss in Chennai will force the hosts to ask some tough questions about the team selection and lack of penetration in the bowling department which was exposed on a flat surface on the first two days of this Test.
Joe Root was awarded the man of the match for his splendid double century in the first innings that set up the game for the tourists and put a lot of pressure on the host batting line up. Experts and fans did not give England any chance in the tour but their win in Chennai has heated up the contest for the remaining spot in the World Test Championship Finals. They have set the tempo and have put the onus of playing well and bouncing back on India who started and still are the favourites to win the series.