Kolkata: England defeated India by seven wickets in the third Test of the four match series being played at the Eden gardens, here today. England chasing a target of 41 runs to win the Test did have an initial stutter but Ian Bell (28*) and Nick Compton (9*) guided the team home.
With the win, England have taken a 2-1 lead over India. This is the first time India have lost back-to-back Tests at home since 1999-2000.
Ravichandran Ashwin who was unbeaten on 83 hit two brilliant boundaries of Steven Finn to go into the nineties. But, in the very next over James Anderson came up with a brilliant in-swinger that flicked the off-stump to dismiss Pragyan Ojha.
England needing to chase 41 runs to take the lead in the series got off to a horrendous start. Cook ran down the pitch and missed an Ashwin off-spinner to get stumped. Jonathan Trott missed a straighter-one from Ojha and was adjudged leg before wicket. Things got real exciting when R Ashwin dismissed Kevin Pietersen.
England at that stage were 8/3, from there Ian Bell took the matter in his own hands and played some brilliant strokes against the spinners to guide his team home.
Brief Score:
India: 316 (Tendulkar 76, Gambhir 60, Dhoni 52, Panesar 4-90, Anderson 3-89) & 239 for 9 (Ashwin 91*, Anderson 3-38, Finn 3-45, Swann 2-70)
England: 523 (Cook 190, Trott 87, Trott 57, Pietersen 54, Ojha 4-142) & 41 for 3 (Bell 28*, Ashwin 2-31)
By Indian Sports News Network