Merciless England Crushed India by 10 Wickets to Level Series

Merciless England crushed India by 10 wickets to level series

Merciless England crushed India by 10 wickets in the second Test at Mumbai to level the four Test series 1-1.

Chasing the diminutive 57-run victory target, England rode on skipper the blistering opening stand between first-innings centurion Alastair Cook (18) and Nick Compton (30), to wrap up the victory with five sessions to spare.

Left-arm spinner Monty Panesar, who had produced a five-wicket haul in the first innings, finished with 6-81 in second as India were skittled out for 142 in first hour of the penultimate day.

Off-spinner Graeme Swann, having claimed four wickets in first innings, capitalized the mercies of the turning track of Wankhede Stadium, to end up with 4-43.

Kevin Pietersen, who had slammed 186 to help England manage 413 in reply of India’s 327, was adjudged Man-of-the-Match.

“Without a doubt, it is a great win. I can’t fault the effort of the lads. I could have called heads and obviously it was an important toss. The way we bowled on that first day it was fantastic,” said skipper Cook.

“You don’t need to tell KP anything and it was great to watch from the other end. Credit to the way Graeme Swann and Monty bowled. Brilliant performance,” he added.

Resuming the day at precarious 117-7 after conceding a vital 86-run first innings lead, India were even unable to take the game into the session.

Barring Gautam Gambhir (65) and Ravichandran Ashwin (11) no Indian batsman could manage to reach double-digits.

Panesar had ensured England’s victory by dismissing Virender Sehwag (9), Sachin Tendulkar (8), Yuvraj Singh (8), MS Dhoni (6), and Ashwin in the evening session of day 3 with his magical variations.

Swann extended Indian misery by scalping Harbhajan Singh (6) early in the morning before Panesar edged Zaheer Khan behind the stumps.

Swann eventually snared Gambhir leg-before to wrap up India’s story. India had won the first Test at Ahmedabad by nine wickets.