The humiliation is complete
The cameras were out, the aperture and exposure set; the audience was febrile in its waiting. The series had long been decided, but it wasn't England's coronation the majority of the fans who'd come in through the turnstiles were anticipating. That would come; first, the matter of Sachin Tendulkar's hund
As it happened, the tension dissipated anti-climactically. Tendulkar had reached 91 with some skill and considerable fortune when Tim Bresnan brought one back into the right-hander.
The batsman was on the front foot, and by the time he finished playing the stroke, he was outside the line of off-stump; but impact was in line, and ball-tracking technology suggested it would have carried on to clip leg-stump: a brave decision, but a correct one.
Tendulkar's wicket was part of a frenzied afternoon session after the Little Master and a quite masterly Amit Mishra (84) had put on 144.
India crashed from 262 for three to 283 all out, allowing England to sweep the series 4-0 with the innings-and-eight-run win.
Excellent touch
The morning session didn't contain any signs of the wicket-rush to follow. Tendulkar looked in excellent touch as he started, swaying away from the short ball, feet moving in compact steps, arms and bat under his total control.
Not till Stuart Broad came on for a short spell did Tendulkar look anything less than commanding. Broad's full length and movement caused the batsman to play and miss, but fortune was with him.
Mishra's stroke-production began to match Tendulkar's. (Who'd have put money on that sentence ever being written?) So neatly and adroitly did he turn the seamers to the leg-side that on more than one occasion, the experts — David Lloyd, Michael Atherton, and David Gower — thought it was his illustrious partner in full flow.
Mishra also played Swann with a level of comfort. Not only did he sweep the off-spinner hard and square, but he also played against the break to the off-side.
During one late cut, he waited deep in his crease, and turned the bat over the ball to hit it to ground: a stroke a fine batsman would be chuffed to execute.
With the ball softening, its seam pressed flat, the bowlers weren't getting much from the fifth-day wicket. Frustration set in, and there was a glimpse of what might have been had India's batting got its act together.
This is a fine England team, but it isn't without vulnerabilities. India has come close to opening a few wounds, but it hasn't stayed in the game long enough to do it; England has been fitter and more intense.
The frustration was also caused by the number of close calls Tendulkar was surviving. After the stumping no one appealed for on Sunday evening — he was on 34 — Tendulkar was dropped on 70 and 85 off Swann, first at short-leg then by the keeper.
The off-spinner also had two close shouts for lbw turned down.
Swann, who was beginning to look hassled, eventually broke through with an off-break that turned lesser than Mishra expected. It beat the outside edge to hit the stumps, ending a fine innings.
Tendulkar exited in the next over at the same score. The double break came at a vital time, for the second new ball was soon to become available.
It was left to the pair of captain M.S. Dhoni and the out-of-sorts Suresh Raina to make England bat again. India needed 29 for this purpose.
But Raina collected a pair, lbw to Swann though he had hit the ball, and Dhoni fell after drinks, throwing his bat at a full, wide ball from Broad to be caught at second slip. The bottom-order collapse, a dismaying feature of the first two Tests for India, was to be reprised.
Swann earned the rewards of the effort he had expended to finish with six wickets, his last four coming in 34 balls. England consolidated its place at the top of the rankings with the win while India slipped to third place behind South Africa.
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