England pull off incredible victory in India as debutant Tom Hartley sets up historic win
ENGLAND have beaten India by 28 runs in the first Test of their five-match series.
Tom Hartley was the hero as his seven-wicket haul on his Test debut sealed a memorable Test win in Hyderabad.
Ollie Pope also starred with the bat as he hit an astonishing 196 runs in his second innings to give England a chance.
But India were still favourites as they returned to the crease needing just 231 runs to win.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja had all scored big to help India to a total of 436 in their first innings – but they all failed to replicate those knocks second time around.
Hartley took the wicket of Jaiswal before getting Shubman Gill out for a duck.
Jack Leach and Joe Root also took a wicket each while captain Ben Stokes ran out Jadeja with a genius piece of fielding.
Wicket-keeper Ben Foakes also played a key role as he stumped Ravichandran Ashwin and Mohammed Siraj to seal the win.
It is India’s first Test defeat on home soil since England won at Chennai in 2021, and just their third home defeat since 2013.
Root starred on that occasion with a knock of 218 but he admitted he has handed over the batting reigns to new superstar Pope.
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He said of his team-mates’ performance: “From all the tours and time I’ve played out here, I’ve not seen anything like that.
“It was an absolute masterclass on how to play in these conditions. From what he has been through, to have all that time away, to come back and deliver like that shows his character and skill as a player.
“I’m so pleased for him. He works really hard and he deserves everything that comes his way.”
A proud Stokes said of the win: “This is the greatest win in my captaincy career.”
