Virat Kohli and Co thrash England, to meet New Zealand in WTC final

Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin once again made a mockery of an eternally confused English batting lineup as India cantered into the inaugural World Test Championship final with a resounding innings and 25 run victory on the third afternoon of the fourth and final Test here on SaturdayAll India needed was a draw to book a Lords date in June with Kane Williamsons New Zealand but Patel 246485 in company of Ashwin 2254475 literally blew England away in a session and half for a paltry 135 in 545 overs to complete a 31 rout ensuring that the Anthony De Mello Trophy will stay at the Cricket Centre in MumbaiA resounding innings victory for IndiaThey beat England 31 and qualify for the final of the ICC World Test ChampionshipINDvENG WTC21 pictwittercomCNMmB2KiyQmdash ICC ICC March 6 2021It was another two and half days finish but even the most partisan England experts like their former skipper Michael Vaughan have admitted that the 22yard strip had almost nothing to do with their sides abject surrenderA case in point could be Indias first innings score of 365 and a lead of 160 on the same track where England could cumulatively manage only 340 runs across two inningsAtrocious application and unbelievably poor mindset while playing spinners cost the Englishmen dearly during the last three TestsThis was one Test match where Indians even before a ball being bowled created an illusion of a turning track It was a ploy of playing with the minds of a team that was already in a negative zoneThere wasnt much turn but enough to ensure that the visitors wilted under pressure as Patels series tally stood at highest for a newcomer 27 while Ashwin was peerless as ever with 31 scalps in his kittyA lot of credit for this victory should go to the indomitable Rishabh Pant who played the enforcer on the second day with a magnificent hundred and Washington Sundar who notched up a chiselled 96These two knocks literally made it impossible for England to make a comeback as a total of 365 seemed like 650The coming of age of Pant as a real replacement for the iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni and emergence of Washington as a potent batting allrounder only augurs well for the teamSo formidable is Indias bench strength right now that Hanuma Vihari who saved an epic Test in Sydney only a couple of months back may not get to play a Test in near futureWorlds best wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha will also find it difficult to add to his 38 Tests unless the Rourkee Rockstar gets injuredPatel in his debut Test series was a powerhouse performer but he also knows that once Ravindra Jadeja is fit and available he will have to wait for his next TestThe story of the third day was similar to the one that has played out for most of the seriesWith shoulders already drooping after the humilation inflicted by Pant and Washington Englands openers Zak Crawley 5 16 balls Dom Sibley 3 21 balls and Jonny Bairstow 0 1 ball seemed like walking wickets at the start of the postlunch sessionCrawley who in this Test match has made an ordinary strip look extraordinarily difficult with his approach was snuffed out by Ashwin with two deliveriesThe first was a sharp offbreak that made him look vulnerable and then came the straighter ball which he managed to jab to Ajinkya Rahane at slipsBairstow didnt trouble the scorers as he closed his bat face to give Rohit Sharma an easy catch at leg slipSuddenly the track that looked docile in the first session seemed like performing all kinds of tricksSibley must have been affected by the two dismissals and his was a freak one as he played a fullblooded sweep shot off Patel which ricocheted off forward short leg fielder Shubman Gills knee and lobbed up for Pant to complete the formalitiesOne had expected two of Englands best players in Joe Root 30 and Ben Stokes 2 off 9 balls to put up a fight but the allrounder failed to gauge the extra bounce as he went for a sweep shot off PatelKohli accepted the dolly at leg slip as Englands resistance was blown away at 30 for 4Ollie Pope 15 hit Ashwin for a six which was more desperation than finesse and it was only a matter of time before he yorked himself as Pant fumbled while gathering but managed to effect a stumping to make it 65 for 5The England skipper could only helplessly look how his colleagues made a mess of Test match batting and Ashwin finally had his number trapping him leg before on the backfoot with another straight ballThe remaining wickets in the posttea session were a mere formality which the spinners completed in due course of timeThe morning session belonged to Washington whose 96 off 174 balls was as important as Pants second day hundred in the final context of the matchWashington and Axar Patel 43 off 97 balls added an invaluable 106 runs for the eighth wicket which ended even a miniscule chance for England to stage a recoveryThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability 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