Nothing has changed for England in the three years since that Edgbaston Test. On that Tuesday, 77 overs saw 378 runs batted off. 373 cases were mentioned in 82 overs this Tuesday. In both victories, Joe Root played a key role; his aggressive century crushed India's chances in 2022, and his experience shone through for England here with a confident fifty after Ben Duckett established the chase with an unbeatable hundred while scoring 188 for the first wicket.

In recent history, India has failed to win a match twice, even though their bowlers have had more than 350 runs to defend. The fact that only England could have pulled off anything like this is irrelevant. The dropped catches, the poor bowling, and above all, the lack of runs from the lower order, make this loss all the more painful.

For almost 45 overs, the English batters' defense held. Until two wickets were taken in the span of 14 pitches. India's mood shifted immediately when Shardul Thakur bowled two more consecutive balls. They had good cause for their anticipation. For India, this was an odd final day of a Test, with the pitch still performing well, Jasprit Bumrah failing to take a wicket, and no wickets taken early. Despite the dreary weather and the openers continuing on, the first disappointment was especially evident because the ball refused to seam. Until the sun came out after lunch.

Previously, there was mostly one-way traffic, with Duckett inflicting significant damage to the bowling and Crawley offering crucial assistance. Throughout the day, Bumrah consistently targeted fourth stump lines in brief bursts, demonstrating yeomanlike behavior. The supporting act wasn't all that awful either. Prasidh Krishna had induced Duckett to edge a length ball as early as the 15th over, but it sailed over slip. According to Crawley, Mohammed Siraj was nearly creating a feather edge by getting the wobble seam to cut in before releasing the ball more completely and seaming it away.

Siraj's eyes narrowed when the batter executed and missed, which happened frequently. On the final delivery of the 36th over, he gained an edge off Duckett that went between Pant and KL Rahul, who were positioned far from the first slip. When Yashasvi Jaiswal let go of Duckett at deep backward square leg, Siraj was devastated. These catches are made at this level, even if it may have seemed hard with Jaiswal sprinting in to meet the ball. Jaiswal could only feel for the catch because his hands were hard and he kept his eyes off the ball. He probably had the most drops in this Test among Indian players, making it his fourth overall.

The milestones were approaching at a leisurely pace from England's viewpoint. Duckett scored his sixth Test century in 121 balls, and the openers made sure 71 runs were added during the morning session. In particular, he gained confidence against Ravindra Jadeja, who was hit with two reverse-slaps for boundaries after lunch. The most absurd of Duckett's reverse hits was the six he made over cover point against Jadeja, which highlighted the value of the failsafe plan that England has used so effectively against spinners for many years.

Duckett scored a fantastic century only a few significant drops away from the covers being called, once more off Jadeja as expected. However, after the clouds lifted and Prasidh discovered his length, the game changed. Crawley was the first to go, drawn into a drive against a ball that was moving away from him and pushing it to Rahul at wide slip. One that nipped in then returned Ollie Pope. With 50 overs remaining, England still needed 158 more runs. However, Duckett was at a different level, despite India gaining a foothold. Backed by a strong defense, he continued to chip away at the target by skillfully selecting shots that stayed back in the crease as much as possible.

Here is where Shardul Thakur entered. Thakur begged to be struck by Duckett by bowling full and wide, which he did, but directly at replacement fielder Nitish Reddy at cover. Pant made a fantastic catch by diving low to his left as Harry Brook still managed to feather the ball as it went down leg. Stokes might have been caught out earlier if there was a first slip, or if Pant had noticed the ball pinging off his glove against Jadeja. However, this is where Root and Stokes joined forces to put up a vital 49-run stand that helped England overcome the psychological barrier of 300.

Jadeja eventually dismissed Stokes, but the objective was by that time so attainable that all that was needed was to maintain composure. Trust Root to carry out that task quietly, with Jamie Smith's assistance. Despite Jadeja's strong leg-before appeal, he managed to stay alive and play the ball late and near his body from that point on. Realistically, India's last chance was to hand the second new ball to Siraj, who had given it his all up to that point. Additionally, he created a chance by taking a thick outside edge off Root. In order to reach the boundary, it raced past the extended hand of gully. England no longer looked back after Root reached his fifty.

Read Also: Hardik Pandya's Name Back in Spotlight as Nasser Hussain Questions Gill, 'Jadeja' Call Criticized

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