England wins the Test series by 3-1 with a match to go

England wins the Test series by 3-1 with a match to go.

England seals the five-match test series against India by 3-1 by winning the 4th match at Southampton. The 4th match was scheduled on 30th August and went till 2nd September. Moeen Ali proving to be the nemesis for India took 9 wickets in the match. He is awarded as Man of the Match. Despite, a good fight, India fell 60 runs short of the target of 245 runs.

Moeen Ali celebrating.

Image source- www.iol.co.za

It was a neck to neck competition where England won the toss and decided to bat first. After England were 6 down at 86 it looked that Indians will restrict the hosts under 150. But, Sam Curran and Moeen Ali took the team to a total of 246. Visitors replied well with a century of Pujara and scored 271 runs. England’s middle and lower middle order gave a target of 245 to the Indians. The Indian side was 3 down at the score of 22 and was in serious trouble. But Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane stabilized the situation. They secured a 101 run- stand. It all looked well controlled till the magical Moeen took an important wicket of Virat. Ajinkya was batting well but was not supported well. Resultingly, he lost his wicket. Later Ashwin had some runs but those were not enough to take the team home. Moeen Ali took 4 wickets in the later innings and India tumbled down at 184 runs.

It was a great competition. England leads the 5 match series by 3-1 but, the gap isn’t much big (if I talk about the performances of both sides). Sam Curran was exceptional in this series. He played the role of an all-rounder in difficult times. But now, let’s get tuned for the next match and for the Asia Cup and hope for some good action.