Kolkata win puts England 2-1 ahead

There might have been a little wobble as they began to chase just 41 for victory but England were soon celebrating the impressive seven-wicket win against India in Kolkata which puts them 2-1 up in the series, with one match to go.

After Jimmy Anderson had bowled Pragyan Ojha with the tenth ball of the final day, leaving Ravi Ashwin 91 not out and India 247 all out, England slid to 8 for 3 before Ian Bell and Nick Compton ensured no further alarms.

Bell's unbeaten 28 from only 28 balls was a lovely little innings, and will do him a lot of good as he looks to find some form after returning to the team following his paternity leave during the second Test in Mumbai. Compton, meanwhile, kept his head to make sure he was there at the end too.

Alastair Cook, England's captain and inspiration in this fascinating four-match series, charged down the pitch in the first over and was stumped off Ashwin for one. That reduced his series average to a mere 109 but it also seemed to give the rest of England's top order an attack of the jitters.

Jonathan Trott, pushing forward, was lbw to Ojha for 3 and then, barely believably, Kevin Pietersen went for a duck as he played defensively at Ashwin and edged behind.

Bell, however, played with controlled aggression to ease England to their modest target with a stream of beautifully-timed strokes against the two Indian spinners, while Compton again showed composure at the crease in a supporting role.

In all, it took just under an hour for England to complete an excellent and fully deserved victory, their first in Kolkata since 1977, and Cook said afterwards: "It was a great performance over the four and a bit days. Everyone performed, and to keep India to just over 300 in their first innings was a particularly good effort. But we now need to finish things off in this series in the last Test in Nagpur."

India began the day on 239 for 9 and Ashwin, on 83 not out, hit two magnificent fours off Steven Finn in the opening over of the day before Anderson just clipped the top of Ojha's off stump to bowl him for 3 and end a spirited last wicket stand of 50.

Date: 09/12/2012 05:00:06 by TheCricketer
In: Today | England |