India vs England Man of the Match: The Indian wicket-keeper batsman contributed both in front of and behind the wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
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During the third day of the fourth Test of the ongoing England’s tour of India in Ahmedabad, India beat England by an innings and 25 runs to win the four-match series 3-1. The victory also means that India will face New Zealand in the final match of the inaugural ICC World Test Championship.
Trailing by 160 runs in the first innings, England failed to prevent an innings loss as the hosts dismissed them on 135 in 54.5 overs. As had been the story of the series, the English batting lineup succumbed under pressure to the extent that they couldn’t even put together a fight.
While batsman Dan Lawrence batted exceedingly well to top score with his 50* (95) comprising of six fours, the others were unable to show resistant against the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel, both of whom picked a five-wicket haul each in the second innings.
The morning session saw England bundling out India for 365 in 114.4 overs on the back of vice-captain Ben Stokes registering bowling figures of 27.4-6-89-4. For the hosts, all-rounder Washington Sundar built on his overnight start to score a career-best 96* (174) with the help of 10 fours and a six.
India vs England Man of the Match
India wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, who had scored his third Test century on Day 2, has been awarded the ‘Man of the Match’ for playing a game-changing innings in the first innings. Batting under pressure with India in likeliness of getting bundled out before England’s first-innings total, Pant put on display different shades of batting to score his maiden Test century at home.
“I think the drills have helped and my confidence has helped; transferring it from my batting to my keeping. This was a very important innings especially with the team under pressure.
Kohli’s leadership this test match allowed young guns like Axar, Rishabh and Washie to play with freedom and dominate the game. It takes a special leader to elevate other players around them through body language and passion when their personal performance has been down.
— AB de Villiers (@ABdeVilliers17) March 6, 2021
“We were in a tough situation at 146-6 and there’s nothing better than performing when the team needs you the most. If I get the chance to reverse-flick a fast bowler again, I definitely would,” Pant told Star Sports during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Having scored 270 runs in six innings at an average and strike rate of 54 and 84.11 respectively, Pant finished this series as India’s second-highest run-scorer only behind opening batsman Rohit Sharma (345).
