Jurel, Gill shine as India beat England at Ranchi to take unassailable 3-1 lead in Test series

Dhruv Jurel made 39 not out and Shubman Gill scored unbeaten 52 as India defeated England by five wickets on Day 4 of Ranchi Test to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. The hosts started the day on 40/0, needing 152 more to win. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma added 44 run more in the morning with the India skipper getting to his fifty before England struck in quick succession to reduce India to 99/2.

Jaiswal (37) once again fell to Joe Root, while Rohit (55) got caught behind off Tom Hartley followed by some inspired bowling by Shoaib Bashir.

The young off-spinner, who took five wickets in the first innings, dismissed Rajat Patidar and Sarfaraz Khan for ducks besides also removing Ravindra Jadeja (4) to put India in a spot of bother at 120/5.

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Incoming Dhruv Jurel then played a MS Dhoni-esque counterattacking innings and built a 72 runs partnership with Gill who stayed solid from the other end to guide India to a record-extending win. During their partnership there was a period when Gill and Jurel did not hit a single boundary for 31 years.

The 3-1 lead also means India have now won 17 successive Test series at home since 2012.

The last Test will be played at Dharamshala but India are already assured of the series trophy after wins at Visakhapatnam, Rajkot and Ranchi. England’s only win came in the opener at Hyderabad (a 28-rin win).

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After losing in the first Test, India bounced back with a 106-run victory in the second Test and doubled their lead in Rajkot with a 434-run win before sealing the series on Monday.