India roar to victory over England in fourth Test

NICK HOWSON AT THE KIA OVAL: The tourists lead the five-Test series 2-1 after a thrilling fifth-day victory in south London inspired by Jasprit Bumrah

The Kia Oval (fifth day of five): India 191 & 466, England 290 & 210 - India won by 157 runs

Scorecard

India took a major step towards securing their first series win in England for 14 years after clinching a stunning victory by 157 runs in the fourth Test at The Kia Oval.

Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja led the way with a fine charge after lunch to secure a 2-1 series lead with the concluding Emirates Old Trafford Test remaining.

England needed an additional 291 runs heading into the final throngs of the contest but rarely flirted with what would have been a record-breaking chase.

Victory capped a remarkable turnaround in the contest from this battle-hardened India side, who were bowled out for 191 on day one, gave away a lead of 99 after both sides had batted once and were deprived of head coach Ravi Shastri after he tested positive for Covid-19 on the third evening.

Both sides now head to Manchester for the final Test starting on Friday (September 10) with the away side knowing a draw or win will secure a series success on these shores for the first time since 2007.

While the Test did not reach the late, dramatic finale the previous four days had promised it was another pulsating day of cricket in this compelling series.

Day five began with all four results still possible, with England eyeing a repeat of Headingley 2019 against Australia and Old Trafford 2020 against Pakistan, while India were bidding to bowl themselves to victory for the second time in a London Test this summer.

Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed had looked comfortable on the fourth evening and that serene progress continued into the morning, as England nudged their way to 100 without loss.

But from the moment that Burns (50) reached his 11th Test fifty on his home ground, India took a firm grip of the contest. The Surrey skipper got the faintest of edges on Shardul Thakur's corridor delivery to open the floodgates.

Dawid Malan soaked up plenty of deliveries but the inability to sustained the early scoring rate led to a crazy run-out when Hameed called the Yorkshire batter through and Rishabh Pant did the rest.

^{A packed house cheered India to victory}

Thus far, Bumrah's direct approach and Jadeja's attempts to get balls turning out of the footholes hadn't yet paid dividends. After lunch, however, their patience and perseverance would be rewarded.

Jadeja would strike first, getting a ball to spit out of the rough and take out the off-stump of Hameed (63), whose scoring had now totally dried up.

The stage was then set for Bumrah, who produced two fearsome yorkers in the space of five deliveries to get rid of Ollie Pope (2) and Jonny Bairstow (0).

A fourth wicket fell in the space of 16 balls when Moeen Ali (0) poked one towards short leg. India had to sit it out for 12 overs before the next breakthrough but it was worth the wait as captain Joe Root played on off the returning Thakur.

Chris Woakes (18) perished before the tea interval and it took India barely 40 minutes after the final break to pick up the two wickets required, much to the delighted of sections of the capacity crowd at a sold-out Kia Oval.