England beat India by 227 runs to win the first Test in Chennai as James Anderson and Jack Leach inspire tourists to victory on final day

Wickets from James Anderson and Jack Leach saw England secure a 227-run victory over India on the final day of the first Test in Chennai.

The tourists needed nine wickets to secure victory at the start of the day’s play, and were well on their way after a blistering morning session where five wickets fell.

Jofra Archer took the final wicket of Jasprit Bumrah to condemn India to their first home Test defeat since 2012, where England also won.

England won the toss on day one, and captain Joe Root, playing in his 100thTest, elected to bat on a scorching day, in batter friendly conditions. 

Root’s decision immediately proved to be a wise one as openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley got off to a flyer.

Burns would eventually fall for 33 after sweeping a shot to keeper Rishabh Pant off the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin.

Despite this, England were still in a very healthy position at 63-1 and it brought Essex’s Dan Lawrence to the crease – starting only his third Test.

However, he would last just five balls and failed to score a run as he was trapped plumb lbw off the bowling of Bumrah who was starting his first home Test.

England looked to be faltering but in came captain Root coming off the back of a superb series in Sri Lanka, with scores of 228 and 186.

The Yorkshireman survived an early scare however, after some risky running saw him just make his ground before Ashwin removed the bails.

From that moment onwards he didn’t look back and put in a performance that he will never forget.

He reached his 20th century, just after tea, making it his third in a row and surely the best of the lot.

Sibley’s crucial and brave innings came to an end on 87, after he was out lbw by Bumrah.

The Warwickshire man reviewed the decision, but was unsuccessful and had to walk back to the dressing rooms with England on 263-3 at the end of the day.

Another solid partnership between Ben Stokes and Root saw the tourists reach 387-3, before Stokes scooped Shahbaz Nadeem’s delivery straight to Cheteshwar Pujara. England lost their fourth wicket but were still in a very comfortable position.

Ollie Pope arrived at the crease just in time to see Root bring up a scintillating double century in style, smashing Ashwin for a superb six, to becomr the first man to score a double century in his 100th Test.

Pope’s brief cameo ended with him on 34 putting England on 473-5 as aggressive batsman Jos Buttler came to the crease.

Root’s sensational innings came to an end on 218 as he was caught on the pad by Nadeem’s delivery and despite a DRS review had to depart – leaving England in a dominant position of 477-5.

In came the first of the tailenders to the crease as Dom Bess to partnered former Somerset team-mate Buttler.

Buttler went on to make a respectable 30 before a poorly misjudged delivery from Ishant Sharma was left by the wicketkeeper seeing the ball crash into the stumps.

All of a sudden Sharma was on a hat-trick as he cleaned up Archer for a golden duck by taking his stumps to put England on 525-8.

The two off-spinners in Bess and Jack Leach put on a handy partnership to take the tourists to 567-9 after Bess was caught lbw for 34.

James Anderson then arrived and added just one before being bowled trying to sweep Ashwin, bringing England’s innings to an end on 578.

India knew they needed a mammoth response to have any chance of staying in the Test but got off to a poor start losing opener Rohit Sharma, as he edged Archer’s delivery to Buttler – making just six runs.

Shubman Gill then chipped one straight to Anderson leaving India 44-2 after just under 10 overs of their first innings.

Captain and key man Virat Kohli, along with Pujara, offered resilience for the hosts before a massive breakthrough came in the face of Bess as his delivery was hit straight to Pope to give England a major lift.

Ajinkya Rahane came to the crease but made just one as he was out to a stunning one-handed grab from Root.

By this point India were in deep trouble at 73-4 with Pujara and Pant their last recognised batsmen at the crease needed to score big if they were to have any chance of avoiding the follow-on.

Pujara made a hard thought 73 before being dismissed by Bess – as he grabbed his third wicket.

Tiredness began to show in the England attack as Leach was smacked for five sixes by Pant to offer India hope.

He looked as if he was heading towards another Test century, until Bess struck. Pant tried to hit the off spinner for a six, but didn’t get enough on it, and was caught by his fellow spinner Leach for 91.

The highly-talented Washington Sundar also stood out with an unbeaten 85 but despite his best-efforts India were bowled on day four for 337, with Anderson and Leach picking up two wickets each.

England had a lead of 241 and wisely opted not to enforce the follow-on. Instead, they came out to bat again hoping to increase the lead to around 400 before looking at a declaration.

England’s innings started badly as Burns departed with the very first ball after nicking one straight to Rahane in the slips.

Sibley and Lawrence consolidated the tourists briefly before the former departed for 16 off the bowling of Ashwin.

Two wickets in quick succession followed as Lawrence was once again caught lbw, this time by Sharma for 18, and just a few overs later Stokes edged a shot to Pant behind the stumps for seven.

At this point England were 71-4, but still in a healthy position, with a lead of 312.

Root began to accelerate before he was dismissed on 40 by Bumrah.

By this point the tea break was approaching but despite this no declaration was made, much to the surprise of many.

Pope and Buttler showed aggression, before they were both removed by Nadeem to leave England 165-7. This gave them a lead of 406 but still Root remained seated in the dressing room with no signs of an immediate declaration.

When Bess was then caught lbw by Ashwin many knew England’s innings was coming to an end.

Archer was bowled trying to have a slog, before Anderson chipped one back to Ashwin to finish England’s innings.

The tourists ended on 178 all out leaving India a massive 420 to win the game, while England needed just 10 wickets.

India lost their first wicket in the final session of day four as Sharma was clean bowled by Leach for 12.

So came the fifth and final day and one that will be remembered.

After a solid start between Gill and Pujara, the latter fell to a superb delivery from Leach which was edged to Stokes in the slips.

Then came the moment which well and truly changed the game, and one of the best overs of Test cricket ever.

Despite being 38, Anderson proved he can still do it on the big occasions and without cloudy conditions.

His first ball was a dot, before he removed Gill with a ripper of a delivery that sent the Indian batsman’s stumps flying.

After another dot ball Anderson’s fourth delivery of the over struck Rahane on the pad and looked certain to be hitting middle stump.

Umpire Nitin Menon, however, was unmoved but Root sent the decision upstairs.

The ball pitch was given as umpires call by the DRS, meaning Menon’s initial decision stood.

However, the very next ball Anderson sent Rahane’s stumps cartwheeling to ensure the previous DRS call would be meaningless.

Anderson’s final ball of the over was another dot, meaning it was a two-wicket maiden, with many comparisons to Andrew Flintoff’s over from the 2005 Ashes.

Two more wickets in as many overs fell as Anderson yet again struck to dismiss Pant, before Bess got Sundar for a duck.

At this point England were certain for victory, with India 117-6 and 304 runs behind the initial target needed for victory.

Ashwin showed some resilience but Leach finally got his man as he edged through to Buttler behind the stumps as India lost their seventh.

With Kohli still at the crease though there was still an element of frustration at initially not being able to get him out. But that soon changed as Stokes sent his stumps crashing to put England on the brink of victory.

An over later, Nadeem was on his way as Leach picked up his fourth wicket which meant his side were one wicket away from a famous victory.

And it would be Archer to pick up the decisive wicket as Bumrah nicked behind, leaving Buttler to make a comfortable catch.

England secured a memorable victory, having been hailed heavy underdogs at the start of the tour, and in the process moved up to first in the World Test Championship.

To reach this summer’s final against New Zealand they must win a further two matches of the three that remain in their series in India.

It’s a quick turnaround for the two sides as the second Test begins on Saturday morning in Chennai again. 

By Josh Mann

Follow @JM_1889