Virat Kohli's Indian team win a Test match at Oval after 50 years, beat England by 157 runs

Virat Kohli and co have done what no other Indian Test team could achieve in the last 50 years - winning a Test match at the Oval in London. Team India beat England comfortably by 157 runs having posted a mammoth total of 466 runs in the second innings and thereby gave the hosts a challenging target of 368 runs to chase in the final innings.

England openers Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns led the hosts' fightback frustrating the Indian players for more than 40 overs as they longed for a breakthrough and it was provided by the man with the golden arm, Shardul Thakur.

Thakur dismissed Burns and the procession started. Dawid Malan was run-out and Hameed was sent by Ravindra Jadeja with an away-spinning delivery that pitched on the leg-stump from over the wicket and took out his off-stump.

But the game-changing spell came from Jasprit Bumrah, who with his twin strikes in consecutive overs, severely dented any hopes of England coming back into the game.

Ollie Pope was caught off-guard by the incoming delivery from Bumrah that shaped in just enough to go through his defense eas he played the wrong line and England had now lost two wickets after lunch as the match had started to slip away from them.

If it hadn't till then, Bumrah ensured that it did in his next over with an absolute peach of a yorker to bamboozle Jonny Bairstow for a duck as the hosts had half their team back in the pavilion.

BOOM on a ROLL

After disturbing Pope's (2) timber, @Jaspritbumrah93 now cleans up Bairstow (0). ENG 5 down for 146.https://t.co/OOZebPnBZU #TeamIndia #ENGvIND #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/4nDMvHj5s6

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 6, 2021

After which India just needed to take the wicket of Joe Root and it was all a formality and Thakur provided the same getting him to chop on to his stumps. When it is your day, things happen for you.

'Lord' Shardul Thakur

But not just the day, it was Shardul Thakur's Test match. Thakur, who was one of the changes for the visitors in the game made an instant impact on the game from the first day itself providing some respectability to India's total when they 127/6 after being put in to bat.

Thakur with his counter-attacking and record-breaking knock hit the fastest ever Test half-century in England and ended up scoring 57 runs off just 36 balls lifting his side's total to 191.

India had England 62/5 before the latter's resurgence and the pitch's behaviour coincided as Ollie Pope and Jonny Bairstow with a flurry of boundaries space of few balls responded with their counter-attack. India were able to get Bairstow before he could hurt them but Pope on his home ground made merry and brought up a half-century on return to the team.

Chris Woakes too chipped in with a half-century as England ended up scoring 290 runs with a lead of 99.

Rohit and Pujara show

India needed a solid batting effort to come back into the game, let alone winning the game. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul got through their team ti stumps on Day 2, it wasn't a major comeback, but it was a start.

However, what followed on Day 3 was England's worst nightmare. Rohit Sharma decided to score his first overseas century, Cheteshwar Pujara decided to change his game and play with the intent on the same day as they piled on runs. With a 153-run stand, India had not just overhauled the deficit but had taken the lead of 171 runs by the end of the third day's play.

India had an indifferent first session losing three wickets but Rishabh Pant decided to come back into the form in the same innings and Thakur was just being the 'Lord' as the lead went past 300. If it wasn't enough, the lower order too had some fun as they added 52 runs for the last two wickets to score a mammoth total of 466 runs in their second innings, setting up a 368-run target for the hosts to chase, which eventually proved too much for them.

India have now taken a 2-1 unassailable lead in the five-match series, with one game to go at Old Trafford, Manchester from Friday, September 10.