1st Test: Tom Hartley hurts India on debut as England record memorable 28-run win
Hyderabad, Jan 28: The pushback started by incandescent Ollie Pope was given its perfect conclusion by debutant left-arm spinner Tom Hartley whose soul-ripping spell fashioned England's memorable 28-run win over India on the fourth day of the first Test here on Sunday.
India's chase of 231 went horribly south once Hartley (7/62) spun into India's top-order, igniting a rot that saw India getting bowled out for 202 in the final over of the day. England now lead the five-match series 1-0.
This is India's fourth defeat in home Tests since 2013 and India's approach during chase was in complete contrast to how Pope tackled Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja with a lot of intent. The spin twins have never been lethal on surfaces which aren't exactly dustbowl and England's second innings batting show won't do their reputation any good.
Earlier, Pope's brilliant 196 took England to 420 in their second innings, and gave them a substantial lead and genuine hopes of stretching India. And England did way more than stretching the hosts.
In fact, this defeat will leave a deep burn in Indian hearts as they stumbled against a 25-year-old rookie Lancastrian with a combined experience of three international matches on a pitch that did not hide any demons.
There was appreciable turn and variable bounce but nothing this set of Indian batters could not have negated. Three dismissals showcased the travails of Indians on the day Shubman Gill (0), Yashasvi Jaiswal (15) and Shreyas Iyer (13) fell to their own ineptitudes.
Jaiswal made a half-hearted charge against Hartley and the spinner pulled back his length after spotting movement of the batter. All the left-hander could manage was to spoon a catch to Pope at silly point.
Gill followed the suit two balls later in the same over. He made a hard-handed, indecisive push at the ball after Hartley tossed one around the off-stump. Pope did the rest at silly point.
Jack Leach, who is still not 100 per cent after taking a blow on his knee while fielding, dealt another telling blow to India's aspirations.
He produced a rather regulation ball that went across the right-hander from around the stumps, and Shreyas just poked the ball to Joe Root at first slip. It was just a nothing dismissal that encapsulated India's turmoil on the day.
India could have felt a greater pinch with Iyer's dismissal as he is one of the better-equipped batter in this batting unit to negate spin.
In-form KL Rahul (22) looked all set for another impact innings, but Root pinned him on the back-foot as the batter attempted a whip on the on-side.
Rahul went upstairs after the on-field umpire gave him leg before, but the TV umpire too concurred with his distant colleague's decision.
Ravindra Jadeja challenged Ben Stokes for a quick single and the England captain found his target with a direct throw, catching the batter well short of the crease.
But the sight of him walking back with a clutched hamstring might just offer a tad concern to the Indian camp.
Skipper Rohit Sharma looked in good space but Hartley's guile had him stationed in front of the wicket when the ball thudded on to his pads.
After losing three wickets in the post-lunch session, India slipped further in the final passage losing wickets in a cluster before Ravichandran Ashwin (28) and KS Bharat (28) stemmed the slide for a while with a 58-run alliance for the eighth wicket.
Their assiduousness was a marker for some of their top-order teammates but it remained just that. A gloomy pointer.
But for getting into a position from where they can dictate the course of the match, England, resuming from 321 for six, should be indebted to Pope, who ballooned his overnight 148 to 196.
England's lead was a good 126 when play ended on Saturday, but they needed more to give a fight to India. Pope did that in the company of equally resolute Rehan Ahmed (28) and Hartley (34).
With Ahmed, Pope added 64 runs for the seventh wicket and then made 80 off 106 balls with Hartley on his side for the eighth wicket.
However, Bumrah brought India the first breakthrough of the morning session when he had Ahmed caught behind.
Ashwin's shooter ended the burgeoning Pope-Hartley alliance as the off-spinner sneaked a low-flying ball past the latter's bat to bowl him.
Pope was the last man to depart. Fittingly, Bumrah, the best of Indian bowlers, ended his stay with a slower ball that dishevelled the stumps as Pope tried a reverse scoop.
However, by then, he had also reversed the course of the Test match by then. Irrevocably.
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Rupee falls to record low of 86.04 against US dollar, settles 18 paise lower
Mumbai, Jan 10: The rupee declined 18 paise to breach the 86-mark against the US dollar for the first time on Friday as it failed to resist pressure from a stronger American currency and huge outflow of foreign funds.
The local unit settled at 86.04 against the US currency.
Surging crude oil prices overseas and negative sentiment in domestic equity markets also weighed down on the Indian currency, forex traders said.
Also, dollar strengthened on increased demand amid the anticipation of restrictive trade measures by the new US administration after Donald Trump takes over as president on January 20.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 85.88, hit the intra-day peak of 85.85 before breaching the 86-mark to settle at the lowest-ever level of 86.04 against the greenback, 18 paise lower from its previous close.
On Thursday, the rupee gained 5 paise to settle at 85.86 against the US dollar, recovering from the steep decline of 17 paise in the preceding session.
Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan, said the rupee hit another record low as domestic markets continued to slide and FIIs outflows sustained. A strong US dollar and surge in crude oil prices also pressured the rupee.
"Weak tone in the domestic markets, a strong greenback and persistent FII outflows may continue to put downside pressure on the rupee. Rising crude oil prices, as well as surge in the US treasury yields may further weigh on the domestic unit.
"However, any RBI intervention may support rupee at lower levels. Traders may take cues from the non-farm payrolls report and consumer sentiment data from the US. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 85.80 to Rs 86.15," he said.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.01 per cent higher at 109.01. The 10-year US bond yields also rose to its April 2024 level at 4.69 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, surged 1.96 per cent to USD 78.43 per barrel in futures trade.
In the domestic equity market, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 241.30 points, or 0.31 per cent, to settle at 77,378.91 points, while the Nifty dropped 95.00 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 23,431.50 points. The indices have been on the downward track for the past three sessions.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 2,254.68 crore in the capital markets on a net basis on Friday, according to exchange data.
The latest government data released on Friday showed the country's industrial production (IIP) growth accelerated to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent year-on-year in November 2024, riding on the increased festive demand and pick up in manufacturing sector.
