SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — England subsided to an innings-and-36-run defeat on the final day of the fourth Test in Mumbai as India swiftly sealed a series victory, thanks in large part to the efforts of batsman Ravichandran Ashwin.
India resumed play with a hefty scoreline of 182-6, but England’s final four wickets fell in 48 balls, with Ashwin taking 6-55 for match figures of 12-167.
It is the third time a Test side have made 400 or more in the first innings of the match and lost by an innings. India now lead the series 3-0 with one match to play, and have now won five consecutive series. Ranked No. 1 in the world, India are now unbeaten in 18 matches on their home pitch, winning 15 of those in a run that dates back to England’s 2-1 series win in 2012.
For England manager Alastair Cook, it equals his fourth defeat in five matches and his side’s seventh loss of the year. Having already lost seven, England could match their 12-month worst of eight losses in the fifth and final Test match, which begins in Chennai on Friday.
While it was batting collapses that cost England during defeats in the second and third Tests, the most recent match was a pure display of being outclassed by the other side, something that was further enhanced by Cook’s poor squad selection.
Of the traveling squad, off-spinner Gareth Batty had a poor third Test, left-arm spinner Liam Dawson was uncapped and batsmen Gary Ballance and Ben Duckett were out of form. England’s selection problems became compiled with on-field errors — after winning the toss, England found themselves 220-2 but lost their last eight wickets for 180 runs.
With chosen spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali disappointing, England failed to capitalize on chances off Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Jayant Yadav, who made a double century and two hundreds between them as India racked up a massive 631.
