ENG vs IND 2018, 1st Test - Joe Root Credits his Team For Putting up a Brilliant Performance
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England skipper Joe Root led his team from the front as England beat India by 31 runs in a thriller of a game in the first Test of the five-match Test series at Edgbaston.

Meanwhile, England turned the table in the morning session of Day four to shift the momentum in their favour. Needing 84 runs to win, India lost Dinesh Karthik early in the day.  James Anderson brought the ball in from good length spot taking Karthik’s edge into the hands of Dawid Malan.

Since then, overnight batsman Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya looked confident to take India home. Pandya played some gorgeous looking shots to close in on the target. However, against the run of play, Ben Stokes trapped Kohli (51) in front of the timber.

The ball came back in from Stokes and Kohli who is so good with the on-side shots, falls over slightly and gets trapped right in front. The English all-rounder roars in joy as other joined him in wild celebration.

ENG vs IND 2018, 1st Test - Joe Root Credits his Team For Putting up a Brilliant Performance
Ben Stokes trapped Virat Kohli in front of the wicket. Getty Images

Although Kohli went for the review, it also showed three red-light to endorse the umpire’s decision. Mohammed Shami was soon to follow his skipper in the same over. The fast bowler edged into the safe hands of Jonny Bairstow and the whole of England went mad in celebration.

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Since then, Hardik slowed down a bit while the incomer Ishant Sharma was taking the attack to the opposition. He struck two boundaries in his 11 runs knock before getting out LBW to Adil Rashid. England skipper Joe Root went for the review after the infield umpires decided to give it not out. It was a beautifully tossed up googly, spins sharply into Ishant, who didn’t pick it. The replay shows three red lights much to the delight of the home fans.

Things become tight for Hardik Pandya, who struggled to score runs as England bowlers kept things tight. Ben Stokes produced yet another magical delivery to find the edge of Pandya to finish off the proceedings.

As a result, he returned with four wickets to single-handedly take England 1-0 up in the five-match Test series beating India by 31 runs.

ENG vs IND 2018, 1st Test - Joe Root Credits his Team For Putting up a Brilliant Performance
Joe Root scored his 12th consecutive fifty against India. Getty Images

Joe Root credits whole team for this win

England captain credited his full team for putting up a fantastic performance especially the bowling unit. He also admitted that he cannot control his excitement post the win.

I am thrilled to bits. It has been a fantastic team performance despite the ups and downs the credit must go to the bowling unit. Coming into today, it was going to be stiff challenge and we knew that if we stayed calm throughout, we would give ourselves the best chance to win,” Root said after the match.

Joe Root feels this win will give them the much-needed confidence for the next encounter. Root also feels staying calm at crucial junctures of the game helped them a lot.

England Vs India 2018, 1st Test, Edgbaston, Statistical Highlights
Sam Curran played a crucial hand for England. Getty Images

This is why Test cricket is this special – it throws up so many things through the day and we did a good job in staying calm. We made sure we didn’t get ahead of ourselves and after three days of fantastic cricket from both sides it gives us a lot of confidence going into the next game. It shows that there is so much more than just skills, runs and wickets when it comes to Test cricket at this level,” he added.

In conclusion, Joe Root lauded the young England all-rounder Sam Curran for putting in a brilliant show. Curran was instrumental in breaking Indian batting order in the first essay. He then came back to score a crucial fifty in the second innings to put a challenging total for India.

It is a great time for us and hopefully we can use it going forward. Sam Curran has a great amount of skill; great having him in our side and very exciting and promising cricketer. It is easy to make an emotional decision right now, but we need to sit outside and decide for Lord’s depending on the surface,” Joe Root concluded.

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