First innings double-centurion Cheteshwar Pujara was named Man-of-the-Match
Merciless India crushed England by nine wickets in the opening Test at Ahmedabad on Monday to claim 1-0 lead in the four-match series.
First innings double-centurion Cheteshwar Pujara slammed a blazing unbeaten 41 off 50 balls, hitting eight classy boundaries, as India overhauled the diminutive 77-run target after losing Virender Sehwag (21).
Skipper Alastair Cook’s 176 and wicketkeeper Matt Prior’s 91 were not enough to ensure a convincing target for the hosts as England were bowled out for 406 in their second innings after follow-on.
Man-of-the-match Pujara had hit a brilliant 206 in the first innings to help India manage a considerable total of 521-8.
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who had produced a five-wicket haul in the first innings to skittle out England for 191, finished with 4-120.
Pace duo Umesh Yadav and Zaheer Khan recorded the figures of 3-70 and 2-59 respectively.
Pujara and Sehwag got hosts off to a flamboyant start in the chase of small definitive target and galloped the total past 50 in just seven overs before Sehwag perished to Swann, caught by Kevin Pietersen at long-on.
Virat Kohli (14 not out) slashed a boundary off spinner Graeme Swann to wrap the things up with more then half day to spare.
Earlier, England’s paper plans to save the Test after resuming the final day at 340-5 went up in smoke as India claimed their remaining five wickets in before lunch.
India climbed a staircase towards conquest when Ojha snapped a return catch of Prior with mysterious delivery early in the morning. The wicketkeeper-batsman could manage to add seven runs in his overnight score of 84.
Ojha shattered England’s final hopes by three overs later by nettling the stumps of Cook, whose 371-ball knock was studded with 21 fours.
Yadav secured a return catch of Stuart Broad (3) to leave England 8-378. Tim Bresnan (20) and Swann (17) tried to lull the tourists by hitting some quick boundaries but their 28-run partnership failed to leave an impact on the bottom-line.
The second Test between the two sides will be played at Mumbai from Nov 23-27.
