4th Test: Gill & Jurel steer India to series victory with hard-fought five-wicket win over England

Ranchi, Feb 26 (IANS) Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel joined forces to overcome massive pressure and nerves to steer India to a series victory with a hard-fought five-wicket win over England on Day four of fourth Test at the JSCA International Stadium on Monday.

Resuming from 40/0, India slipped from 84/0 to 120/5, including losing captain Rohit Sharma for 55. But Gill, who remained unbeaten on 52 and Jurel, who made 39 not out, kept their calm to stitch an unbroken 72-run partnership for the sixth wicket, to complete a tricky chase of 192.

Jurel had also played a terrific hand in the first innings with a career-best score of 90. The result also means India have sealed the series with an unassailable 3-1 lead a game to spare in Dharamshala, starting on March 7, especially after losing the opening Test in Hyderabad.

While India completed their 17th straight series win at home, it is also the first series defeat for England under the leadership of Ben Stokes. But the visitors’ can take a lot of heart from off-spinner Shoaib Bashir’s match haul of eight wickets, including five in the first innings, which wasn’t enough to stop India from winning the series.

Brief Scores: England 353 and 145 lost to India 307 and 192/5 in 61 overs (Rohit Sharma 55, Shubman Gill 52 not out; Shoaib Bashir 3-79, Joe Root 1-26) by five wickets