England vs India 2018, 1st Test: Hosts Register Sensational Victory, Ben Stokes Pulls off a Masterstroke at Edgbaston

At Edgbaston, Ben Stokes roared, as hosts England registered a sensational 31-run victory in the opening Test against India to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. It proved to be a Test match at it’s very best owing to England vs India 2018. The English bowlers produced a magnificent display of bowling in the morning session of the penultimate day – to hand a breathtaking victory for the home team.

India came out to bat on the fourth day with another 84 runs to get. They had five wickets to play with and would have backed themselves to chase down the target of 193.

However, wickets started falling in quick successions which started the slide for India. The first to go was Dinesh Karthik as he edged a relatively short of length delivery from James Anderson straight into the slip cordon. Interestingly, it came in the very first over of the morning session.

India lost the plot in the morning session of day four:

India needed Karthik to be with Kohli. He had batted well for the last 40 minutes on Friday (August 3). However, the pressure got the better of him and he was dismissed by Anderson when Dawid Malan completed a low catch.

However, Hardik Pandya came out in the middle to join Kohli. The Indian skipper had a chat with Pandya ahead of the day’s play and it seemed to shrug off Pandya as well.

Both played some delightful shots to get the target down to just 52 runs needed with four wickets left.

However, the wicket of Kohli proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the visitors. Pandya tried his best and played some aerial shots.

In addition, it was a certain Stokes, who single-handedly bagged three wickets to win the game for England.

It was a sensational spell from the all-rounder as he yet again proved the value of his position in the side. It was a sensational Test to set up the series in a tremendous manner. India might have lost the match but who knows what’s in store for the next four Tests.

The match was beautifully set up by Indian skipper Kohli, who scored a thrilling 49 in the first innings. It was his tremendous knock which kept India in the hunt. Then it was Sam Curran, who brought the hosts back into the match with a brilliant knock of 63.

Moreover, the Indian bowlers were all over England batters and had reduced them to 86 for seven. However, his innings proved to be the difference and was adjudged as the Man of the Match.

Brief Scores:

England Vs India 2018, Edgbaston, 1st Test, Day 3:

England 1st innings 287 all-out in 89.4 overs (Joe Root 80, Jonny Bairstow 70, Ravichandran Ashwin 4/60, Mohammed Shami 3/64)

India 1st innings 274 all-out in 76 overs (Virat Kohli 149, Sam Curran 4/74)

England 2nd innings 180 all-out in 53 overs (Sam Curran 63, Ishant Sharma 5/51, Ravichandran Ashwin 3/59)

India 162 all-out in 54.2 overs (Virat Kohli 51, Hardik Pandya 30, Ben Stokes 4/40)