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Fourth Test drawn - England win series 2-1
Don't let the vaguely farcical conclusion to this match cloud what matters. This is a sensational performance from England. After a heavy defeat in the first Test in Ahmedabad, England hit back in Mumbai and Kolkata with two of the very best Test performances they have ever produced on the sub-continent. Alastair Cook was one month old when England last won a Test series in India. No touring side has won here since a handy Australian side did so in 2004. A sensational and utterly unexpected start to Cook's reign as full-time Test skipper. -
Over 151 - England 336/4 (Bell 102, Root 18)
Four dot balls to keep the nerves jangling before Ashwin stuffs a ball down the legside to give Bell an easy put-away for his century. Bell completes three runs as the ball runs away towards the fine-leg boundary and can at last celebrate his 17th Test hundred. The really hard work was done in the first 90 minutes of the innings yesterday evening. Today has been about concentration, focus, and collecting your reward. Bell - and Trott before him - have certainly done that. Three more overs at a guess before we can all go back to bed. -
Tea
Hurrah for Ian Bell, who is making sure his century takes us right up to the point where this game can be put out of its misery. At least that way there's something, however trifling, to occupy us. He needs 13 runs, and has plenty enough talent to make sure that takes 50 minutes after the break. Test cricket is rarely worse than when a game is destined for an inevitable draw, but let's not let ennui detract from England's achievement here. To win a series in India is some feat; to do it from one Test down is truly sensational.
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