On this day in 1971: Ajit Wadekar-led India make history with first Test series win in England
On this day in 1971: Ajit Wadekar-led India make history with first Test series win in England
On this very day in 1971, 24 August, India managed to beat all odds and secure its first-ever Test series win in England. The first two Test matches of India’s 1971 tour of England had ended in a draw. The Indian side led by Ajit Wadekar managed to triumph over England in the third and final Test at The Oval.
The visitors outclassed England in all departments to win by 4 wickets. At the start of the game, England were in a strong position. The Ray Illingworth-led side managed to score 355 at the end of Day 1.
For England, opener John Jameson gave them a good start. He scored 82 off 152 deliveries before he was bowled out. Wicketkeeper Alan Knott was the top scorer. He was just 10 runs short of his century when he was caught and bowled by Eknath Solkar.
India's First Test & Series Win in England#OnThisDay in 1971, India beat England by 4 wickets at The Oval to register their 1st Test win in England. India won the 3 match series 1-0. pic.twitter.com/5CYtT46CKL
— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) August 24, 2022
In the first innings, Eknath Solkar scalped 3 wickets for 28 runs. Bishan Bedi, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Bhagwath Chandrasekhar took 2 wickets each. In response to England’s 355, India could manage to score only 284. Farokh Engineer scored 59 runs to emerge as the top scorer. Dilip Sardesai also made 54 runs. England skipper Ray Illingworth was the main thorn for the Indian side and managed to scalp 5 wickets, including Dilip Sardesai, Gundappa Viswanath and Ajit Wadekar.
In the second innings, England were aiming to take a big lead and finish off with a win. But a spirited performance by the Indian bowling unit led to all their dreams crashing down. The hosts could only manage 101 against Bhagwath Chandrasekhar's unplayable googlies and legbreaks. The spinner managed his career-best haul of 6-38 in the contest.
After that, it was up to Dilip Sardesai and Ajit Wadekar to take India past the winning post. Chasing a target of 173, India managed to reach the score with 4 wickets in hand.
The world was stunned by India winning its first-ever Test series on English soil. To date, the side has managed to repeat this feat only twice - in 1986 under Kapil Dev and in 2007 under Rahul Dravid.
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