OTD| India lost a close-nit match against England at Edgbaston in 2018

It was the 1st match of the 5-match Test series between the hosts England and the visitors India at the Edgbaston in Birmingham on August 1, 2018. The contest witnessed a thrilling red-ball game between the two Test cricket giants. However, the English side had the last laugh as they won the match by 31 runs.

Talking about the match, England won the toss and elected to bat first. With the help of brilliant batting performances from Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, the English side amassed a total of 287 runs in the first innings. Ravichandran Ashwin displayed the best bowling performance for India by taking 4 wickets.

Apart from him, Mohammed Shami also took 3 wickets. Coming to bat, Indian batters struggled a lot, however, the then-Indian captain Virat Kohli played as a lone warrior and smashed 149 runs which included 22 fours and 1 six. No other batters, except him were able to contribute anything special.

Brilliant bowling performance by England in the 4th innings

England’s fast bowling unit performed brilliantly, especially Sam Curran who took 4 wickets and he was the one who destroyed India’s top order. Coming to bat in the 2nd innings, England had a horrible start as they lost their 7 wickets on the score of just 87 runs. Ashwin got rid of England’s top order while Ishant Sharma destroyed their middle order.

However, Curran’s 63-run knock helped the English side to set a target of 194 runs for India. Ishant picked up a fifer while Ashwin and Umesh Yadav took 3 and 2 wickets respectively. The target wasn’t too big for the team but the England bowlers came up with something special.

Defending the target, Stuart Broad and Ben Stokes wrapped the top order. Despite Kohli’s half-century, India failed to achieve the target and fell 31 runs short. Stokes picked up 4 wickets and helped his team to win the match. Curran was named Player of the Match for his all-round performance.