4th Test drawn, England take series 2-1

England’s batsmen ground out a draw in the 4th Test against India, sealing a 2-1 series win at Nagpur on Monday.

India’s fightback on Saturday had stirred up hopes of a chance to level the series 2-2 but Jonathan Trott (143) and Ian Bell (116*) settled the issue with their chanceless batting on Days 4 & 5.

Resuming on 297/8 on Day 4, India batted an hour for just 29 runs, declaring on 326/9 as MS Dhoni sought time for his bowlers to bowl England out and set India a reachable target. R Ashwin dismissed Alastair Cook (13) early while Pragyan Ojha scalped Nick Compton (34) just before Tea on Day 4 to raise India’s hopes. The dismissal of Kevin Pietersen (6) by Ravindra Jadeja shortly after Tea raised expectations even more but Trott and Bell proceeded to shut the doors with their solid batting.

The batsmen took England to 161/3 at Stumps on Day 4, Trott on 66* and Bell on 24*. The pair batted almost all the way till Tea on Day 5 in a 208 run partnership for the 4th wicket, batting India out of a result. Unfussed, unhurried and with an unresponsive pitch to play on, the duo produced their first hundreds of the tour. Ashwin provided the sole wicket of the day for India, dismissing Trott when Virat Kohli caught a flick at leg slip.

Joe Root joined Bell in the middle as the latter worked towards his century, bringing it up off 293 balls eventually. The captains shook hands on a draw an hour before play was scheduled to end, England on 352/4, 348 ahead of India.

This is India’s first loss at home in a Test series since the 2-1 loss to Australia in 2004-05. This is England’s first Test series win in India since 1984/85 when David Gower led them to a 2-1 victory. James Anderson was adjudged Man of the Match for his 4/81 which winded India late on Day 2. Alastair Cook took the Man of the Series award for his 562 runs at 80.28, having scored a ton in each of the first three Tests in his first major series as full time skipper.

Cheteshwar Pujara led the run charts for India with his 438 runs at an average of 87.60, 206 of which were instrumental in India’s win in the first Test at Ahmedabad. Virat Kohli ended a worrying drought of runs with a 103 to save the game at Nagpur, finishing the series with 188 runs at an average of 35.14.