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5 reasons why England won the first Test against India | How did England manage to pull off such a good win in Chennai?

The Joe Root-led England side romped to their biggest Test win on Indian soil as they won by 227 runs in Chennai to take a 1-NIL lead in the four-match Test series.

England has improved their chances of securing one of the three series results in their favour that could see them through to the final of the WTC. Before the series started, not many gave the visitors a chance to win against India in their backyard. The reason was India’s home dominance since the beginning of the last decade, as well as question marks about England heading into the series.

Only one team managed to win a series in India in the bygone decade and coincidentally it was England who did this in 2012-13. With the berth of WTC finals at stake, the English team will give it all to win the series. They’ve started the long tour on a sound note by winning the first Test comprehensively as they outplayed the Indian team in all three departments. Here we look at 5 major reasons behind England’s winning start at the Chepauk.

1. Coin Toss is more important than ever:

It all started with the coin toss in Chennai. The value of winning the toss could well be known by the number of runs scored by the visitors in the first 2 days of the Test. England’s decision to bat first on a fresh wicket was the right one as they put on a mammoth 578 runs in the first innings.

Skipper Joe Root had challenged his team to get to 600-700 in the first innings. In hindsight, it was a very crucial toss to win for Root and the decision was perfectly balanced with the conditions on show. The wicket was relatively flat with not much assistance for the seam bowlers or slower bowlers for the first two days of the Test match.

2. Inexperienced spin twin troubled Indian batsmen

In general, Asian batsmen in the subcontinent conditions are considered to be very good players of spin bowling. In that context, both Dom Bess and Jack Leach, who were touring India for the first time, did an appreciable job. While the former bowled well in the first innings, the latter one turned up in the second dig. Bess and Leach took more than half of England’s wickets, sharing 11 across both innings.

The pitch was offering a slow turn before it deteriorated in the last two days. Both of them leaked runs by giving away some loose deliveries, but it can’t take away anything from the way both of them bowled throughout the match. Rishabh Pant dominated Jack Leach in the first innings of India. Leach identified the struggles of bowling in India and quickly identified the lengths to bowl in the fourth innings. He suddenly got into a groove, where every delivery either whistled or nested past the bat and found the batsmen second-guessing. Together Bess and Leach created enough doubts and opportunities throughout the course of the Test match.

3. Pace has its worth in Asia

While the tracks in the subcontinent are more suited for the spinners, pace bowlers have to adjust and adapt to create any sort of impact in the match. England’s pace duo, James Anderson and Jofra Archer, had found a way to use the conditions and the SG ball to a great effect. On a pitch that was slow and where the edges weren’t carrying, Archer not only bowled with rapid pace but he also got a disconcerting bounce from the surface. Archer used his subtle variations to keep a check on the Indian batsman. Whereas his senior pro Anderson made the ball talk on the last day of the first Test by bowling an exceptional spell of reverse swing bowling. Both played a second fiddle to the spinners, bowled short spells but the most impressive thing was they were economical and applied pressure with the new and old ball.

4. England let the pitch deteriorate

The first hour-and-a-half’s play on day 1 suggested that the pitch is a belter to bat on and if the batsman can apply themselves, then they can go on to cash in with a big score.

The tourists went about their business sensibly in their first innings. Openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley set the platform with 63 runs for the first wicket. Once Burns and Dan Lawrence got out in quick succession, Root and Sibley joined forces to put on 200 runs for the third wicket. Root then added 124 runs with Ben Stokes for the fourth wicket. Their efforts were supported by other useful contributions from Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, and Dom Bess.

England batsman stuck to their game plan of putting a big first-innings total. The batters didn’t give many chances to the Indian bowlers as they played the ball on its merit. England made the most of the best batting conditions, batted for a longer period (190.1 overs) in their first dig which later helped their bowlers get more out of the pitch. The first innings efforts of the English batting line-up allowed the pitch to deteriorate to a great extent. It was quite evident as the hosts failed to bat for 60 overs in their second innings. The oddballs were staying low and for spinners, the pitch was turning square in the fourth innings. 

5. James Anderson “Reversed” it for England

The ageless James Anderson was the star of the show on day five in Chennai. The veteran seamer dished out an incredible display of reverse swing bowling to bowl opener Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane within four balls with unplayable deliveries.

The most prolific seamer in the history of Test cricket twice sent the Indian off-stump cartwheeling with perfectly-pitched deliveries that hooped late to burst through the defenses. He might not have the same pace he had as a younger bowler, but Anderson showed that he can be lethal in any given scenario and any conditions.

Often he prefers to take the new ball but had to wait for 14 overs to get his chance on day 5. At his age one may take a back seat and let others do the bulk of the job but Anderson, having sensed the ball was ready to reverse, engaged in outright destruction. His first spell last day morning proved to be a key difference in the match. The Lancashire pacer was responsible for wrecking Indian hopes and winning the game for his country as he has often done in the past.

Written by Vaibhav Tripathi. Follow Vaibhav on Twitter today.