Shubman Gill has finally tasted success as India’s red-ball captain for the first time after a historic outing with the bat in the second Test against England at Edgbaston. His bowlers delivered right on time as they won the game by 336 runs to secure their first-ever win at this venue. India have levelled the series at 1-1 and will have a three-day rest before taking the field at Lord’s for the third Test.
First innings
The match started with England once again winning the toss and opting to field first. Their trick worked as India lost their first wicket on just 15 runs in the form of KL Rahul (2), but then Karun Nair (31) went on to add 80 runs for the second wicket with Jaiswal before losing his wicket. Yashasvi Jaiswal then went on to score 87 and added 66 for the third with stand-in skipper Gill before missing yet another century against England. India then lost Rishabh Pant (25) and Nitish Reddy cheaply, but skipper Shubman Gill (269) played a marathon, record-breaking innings and stitched crucial partnerships with Ravindra Jadeja (89) and Washington Sundar (42) to power India to 587 runs in the innings. Shoaib Bashir, with three wickets, was England’s best bowler in the innings.
Second innings
England’s first innings can be described in three words: collapse, record, collapse. The hosts lost their first five wickets for just 84 before Jamie Smith (184 not out) and Harry Brook (158) went on to add 303 runs for the sixth wicket to get England back in the game. But India hit back hard and went on to take the rest of the English wickets while conceding just 20 more runs, as the hosts were all out for 407—giving India a big lead of 180 runs. Siraj was India’s best bowler with six wickets, while Akash Deep got four wickets to his name.
Third innings
In their second innings, India once again came all guns blazing, with Shubman Gill again at the centre. Gill went on to score 161 runs and once again stitched crucial partnerships with KL Rahul (55), Rishabh Pant (65) and Ravindra Jadeja (69 not out) to take India to 427 for 6 before declaring the innings and setting a mammoth 608-run target for England to chase.
Fourth innings
England’s second innings started almost the same way as the first, as Akash Deep struck twice and Siraj also took one to quickly reduce them to 50 for 3. England tried to rebuild with Ollie Pope (24) and Harry Brook (23), but Akash Deep once again struck to remove both batters as England lost five wickets for just 83. Ben Stokes (33) added 70 runs for the sixth wicket in an attempt to push the match towards a draw, but Washington Sundar removed him to put India right back on top.
Chris Woakes (7) was next to depart off Krishna as India continued to inch towards the win. Akash Deep then removed Jamie Smith (88) to complete his five-wicket haul. Jadeja was the next bowler to add a wicket to his name after dismissing Josh Tongue for 2. Finally, Akash Deep removed Brydon Carse (38) to finish the English innings on 271 and hand India a historic 336-run win.