From 1971 to 2021: A lookback at all of India’s Test wins in England

New Delhi: India’s victory at The Oval on Monday was only their ninth Test win in England. This is also only the second occasion in their cricketing history that India have won two Test matches in a series in England. The last time they did so was back in 1986 when India returned home with a 2-0 win in a three-Test series.

IANS takes a look at all of India’s Test wins in England:

1971

Third Test at The Oval: India’s first-ever Test win in England was historic also because it helped India clinch their first-ever Test series in the country. B.S. Chandrasekhar, with 6/38, was the star performer although there was contribution from most players. India won on the last day by four wickets.

1986

First Test at Lord’s: India registered their first-ever Test win at the home of cricket when they defeated host England by five wickets. Kapil Dev, who took 4/52 in second innings to restrict England to 180 and then hit a quickfire 23 off 10 balls to see India through to victory in a difficult batting phase, won man of the match. Dilip Vengsarkar scored a ton in the first innings. India won by five wickets.

Second Test at Headingley: Roger Binny’s five-fer and Madan Lal’s three-wicket haul helped India bowl out England for 102 and take a 170-run lead. Dilip Vengsarkar hit his second century of the series as India set a 408-run target. England were bowled out for 128 as Maninder Singh picked four for 26. India won by 279 runs

2002

Third Test at Headingley: India had lost the first Test by 170 runs and drawn the second one. They came back to win the third and final Test by an innings and 46 runs. Rahul Dravid (148), Sachin Tendulkar (193) and Sourav Ganguly (128) scored centuries as India piled up 628/8 before declaring against an England attack comprising Matthew Hoggard, Alex Tudor, a 33-year-old Andy Caddick and Andrew Flintoff. The total was big enough for England to succumb.

2007

Second Test at Trent Bridge: The first and the third Test matches at Lord’s and The Oval were drawn. It was the second Test that India won by seven wickets which helped them win the series. Left-arm pace bowler Zaheer Khan ran through the England batting, picking nine wickets (4/59 and 5/75). As England batsmen looked to make a match of it in the second innings after conceding a 283-run lead, Zaheer dismissed five of England’s top six batsmen with brilliant swing bowling. Zaheer’s spell restricted England’s lead to 72 which India surpassed losing three wickets.

2014

Second Test at Lord’s: Pace bowler Ishant Sharma’s 7/74 helped India take 1-0 lead in the Test series. The first innings had gone almost on an even keel. But India put up a formidable 342 in the second innings. England folded for 223 in the second innings as they kept hitting Sharma’s innocuous short-pitched deliveries to fielders. India won by 95 runs.

2018

Third Test at Trent Bridge: India had lost the first two Tests to be 2-0 down in the series. Virat Kohli scored 200 across two innings (97 and 103) while Hardik Pandya’s 5/28 helped India take an important 168-run first innings lead. Set a target of 521, England’s innings lasted over 104 overs as Jasprit Bumrah took five wickets for 85 runs to restrict them to 317. India won by 203 runs

2021

Second Test at Lord’s: India won the second Test in remarkable fashion. Till the start of the fifth day’s play and in fact till the first half hour of the final day, it seemed like England were favourites to win. However, pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami scripted a turnaround with an amazing unbeaten 89-run partnership for the ninth wicket. England, who had to bat the last two sessions, succumbed under pressure to lose by 151 runs.

Fourth Test at The Oval: Fifty years after their first-ever Test win in England, India got their second win at the venue as they overturned a 99-run deficit to set England a target of 368 in the fourth innings. The host, if they weren’t targeting win, needed to bat out 122 overs to draw the Test. Things went fine till lunch for England on the last day but the second session saw them get blown over. India won the match by 157 runs to take 2-1 lead in the series.

(IANS)