By: Tarish Bhatt
When England and India scored more than thousand runs in four days, the draw seemed to be the most likely result. The 1st Test did end in a draw, but England managed to make a match out of it on the final day in Rajkot.
England set a 310 run target for the Indians in 49 overs on the final day on a pitch that had started to assist the spinners. In reply, the Indian team managed 172/6 to force a draw. And, by no means it was boring.
India, however, haven’t had a great start as they lost opener Gautam Gambhir for a duck. Chris Woakes provided the breakthrough in only the second over, when Gambhir edged one to Joe Root at second slip.
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England then put India in a spot of bother by dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara (18). The Indian team tried to recover from the blow only to lose Murali Vijay (31) and Ajinkya Rahane (1) in a space of three runs.
Captain Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin (32) constructed a crucial partnership for the fifth wicket. They added 47 runs before Ashwin was dismissed by Zafar Ansari in the final hour of play.
Kohli then played a captain’s knock to save the Test in the dying stage of match. The Indian captain played a watchful innings to keep the five match series at 0-0. This was probably the first time Kohli saved a Test match.
He stood between the win and England remained unbeaten on 98-ball 49. On the other end, allrounder Ravindra Jadeja (32 not out) played a positive innings for his team.
“A lot of confidence going into the next one. We have to make sure we put the hardwork in for the next Test,” Root said after the match. “We’re doing some good stuff at the moment.”
“So many chances that could have gone, that could have happened. We gave our everything in 50 overs,” he said.
