4th Test: Cook savours England win

Hosts go 2-1 up against India after an innings-and-54-run victory.

MANCHESTER: England captain Alastair Cook hailed a remarkable reversal of fortune after his side thrashed India to win the fourth Test by an innings and 54 runs inside three days on Saturday.

Having bowled India out for just 152 in the first innings, with man-of-the-match Stuart Broad taking six for 25, England then made 367 with young guns Joe Root (77) and Jos Buttler (70) putting on 134 for the seventh wicket.

But few could have foreseen the way the match was to end, with India losing nine wickets after tea on Saturday’s third day in being dismissed for 161.

Especially as by then Broad was off the field with a broken nose suffered when he missed a Varun Aaron bouncer while batting earlier on Saturday.

“You don’t often get nine wickets in a session against any team,” said Cook. “We got on a roll straight after tea...Then we knew we could get the job done well in time.”

Moeen Ali played a key role in India’s slump on Saturday with a return of four for 39 in 13 overs.

Meanwhile, England have named an unchanged 13-man squad for next week’s fifth and final Test against India at The Oval, with Broad ready to play in a face mask.

Indian press slams team

India captain Ms Dhoni faced criticism from the nation’s press for his ‘bizarre’ tactics, while his batsmen were slammed for their ‘spineless surrender’.

Under the back-page headline ‘Spineless Surrender’, The Times of India lashed out at the country’s batsmen for refusing to fight back.

The newspaper said the batsmen had made millions of dollars playing ‘slam-bang’ limited-overs cricket, but failed to hone their skills for Test matches, the sport’s most demanding format.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 11^th, 2014.

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