Ollie Robinson’s stellar seam bowling helped England beat India by an innings and 76 runs on the fourth morning of the third Test at Headingley on Saturday.
England tied the five-match series 1-1 by taking eight wickets for 63 after India had reached 215-2 Friday while trying to erase a 354-run deficit.
Robinson took four wickets Saturday to finish five for 65. James Anderson and Moeen Ali took one apiece before Craig Overton finished things off to leave India at 278 all out.
England had dominated for two days before India slowly crawled back into the match Friday, resuming 139 behind at the start of play on a sunny morning that hinted at good batting conditions while England put trust in the second new ball, which was taken immediately.
Robinson removed both overnight batsmen to dampen the visitors’ hopes. After three scoreless overs, he found the early breakthrough by dismissing Cheteshwar Pujara for 91 before a run had been scored. Soon after, captain Virat Kohli edged to first slip to finish on 55.
It was over before lunch and the win allowed Joe Root to pass Michael Vaughan with a record 27th test victory as England captain.
“It was a fantastic clinical performance by our bowlers,” Root told Sky Sports. “We had good pressure early on and when the chances came we took them. We hung in there yesterday and knew that with the new ball this morning we would have chances to get wickets.”
The fourth test begins Thursday at the Oval.