Gill’s India crush England at Edgbaston to level series 1-1

The biggest concern for India ahead of the second Test at Edgbaston was the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. His replacement, Akash Deep, had not taken more than three wickets in an innings in his fledgling 7-match career until he got the break after the experienced pacer Bumrah chose to rest to manage his workload.

However, over the course of five days, the 28-year-old ensured that Bumrah wasn't missed. He produced a career-best ten-wicket performance, including 6/99 in the second innings as India crushed England by 336 runs to level the five-match series 1-1.

England had resumed at 72/3 in pursuit of an impossible target of 608. The weather had been kind to them at the start of Day 5 because play was delayed by an hour and 40 minutes due to rain. However, when the match resumed, it was Akash who exploited the conditions best. England were down to 83/5 in no time as Akash clean-bowled Ollie Pope (24) and Harry Brook (23).

England lost Ben Stokes (33) before lunch, after Washington Sundar, one of the two other changes India made from Headingley, trapped the home skipper leg before.

Chris Woakes managed to give Jamie Smith company in the post-lunch session, before edging a short ball from Prasidh Krishna, who was delighted to fetch his first wicket of the match.

With Smith holding fort, England could still dream of pulling off a miracle. In the first innings, he was the last man standing on a fine 184 even as the rest capitulated, giving India a massive 180-run lead. But even he couldn't stand in the way of Akash, a maiden Test fifer. The pacer had used the short ball to great effect in the match, but this one was slower and cutting in. Smith went after it, but top-edged to Sundar.

The English tail, inspired by Brydon Carse, kept Gill waiting for his first win as India's Test captain. With 269 in the first innings and an equally brilliant 161 in the second, the Indian skipper had led from the front to level the series. But he must also be proud of the contributions from his bench players, who stepped up when summoned, particularly Akash. The third Test will begin at Lord's on July 10, and Bumrah could be available, but if not, Akash is ready.

Brief scores: India 587 in 151 overs (Gill 269, Jadeja 89, Jaiswal 87, Sundar 42, Shoaib Bashir 3/167, Chris Woakes 2/81, Josh Tonge 2/119) & 427/6 dec in 83 overs (Gill 161, Jadeja 69, Pant 65, Rahul 55, Tongue 2/93, Bashir 2/119) bt England 407 (Jamie Smith 184 not out, Brook 158, Mohammed Siraj 6/70, Akash Deep 4/88) & 271 in 68.1 overs (Smith 88, Akash Deep 6/99)