INDIA’S rare Test win in England, and that too at Lord’s during the venue’s bicentenary year, has no doubt raised their profile in the ongoing five match series.

Their 95-run victory before tea on the final day on Monday had its ups and downs but in the end they came out on the top as Alastair Cook’s men succumbed to the pressure and then perished.

This was India’s first win at Lord’s since 1986 when Kapil Dev’s men won the series 2-0 with another winning display at Headingley.

India’s victory was only their sixth in England since they first played their inaugural Test in 1932 — also including their first-ever series win in England under Ajit Wadekar when they beat England at The Oval in 1971.

After India had lost five wickets on the first day for just 145, no one could have fancied their chances to mount a recovery and finish with 295. Riding on Ajinkya Rahane’s brilliant century and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s resilience, India recovered and the game opened up.

England batted as poorly as India did in their first innings with the wicket still helping the seamers.

Although Cook’s men did manage to get a marginal lead, India wiped off the deficit with another brave batting display by Murali Vijay who missed his century by just five runs but the Indians were also benefitted by a cavalier innings by Ravindra Jadeja.

Jadeja’s 68-run knock was eye-catching as he took the attack to the English bowlers when the batsmen were under pressure.

That, I think, did the trick for India in the end as Kumar once again chipped in with another fifty in this series.

Batting in the last innings and going for the target is always a tricky business.

India had picked up four wickets by the end of the fourth day but they applied the final thrust when Moeen Ali fell into the leg trap.

Ishant Sharma also bowled to a plan — bowling without a slip and with three men at catching positions deep on the leg side — as the English batsmen kept on making the same mistakes, pulling or hooking to get themselves caught in the deep.

England battling to save Test as India strike

Sadiq Mohammad sitting with me as a guest in one of the hospitality boxes predicted after lunch on the final day that England’s last five wickets wouldn’t last long considering the way they were hooking or pulling the ball.

Immediately after lunch, England’s demise was quick just as Sadiq had predicted.

Sharma finished with 7-74, bowling at full pace and extracting life out of a slow pitch which suddenly had come to life to provide India a victory which they so well deserved.

Published in Dawn, July 22nd, 2014