England sealed a 4-0 series rout of India with an innings and eight-run victory at The Oval here on Monday as Sachin Tendulkar fell just short of an historic 100th international hundred. India, who needed 291 runs to make the hosts bat again, frustrated England during a fourth-wicket partnership of 144 between Tendulkar, who made 91, and Amit Mishra.
But when Mishra was out for a Test-best 84, it was the start of a collapse that saw India lose seven wickets for 21 runs on the way to 283 all out as the outplayed tourists suffered a second straight innings defeat. Off-spinner Graeme Swann, at last presented with a pitch taking turn this series, did the bulk of the damage with six for 106 to the delight of the majority of a sell-out 23,500 crowd. It was the first time England had swept a four-match series since a 4-0 home whitewash of the West Indies in 2004.
"We had to work pretty hard for that," England captain Andrew Strauss told BBC Radio's Test Match Special. "When you enforce the follow-on, you're always asking a lot of the bowlers especially on a flat wicket. They stuck at it. To bowl India out for 300 and 283 on that wicket is quite a performance." Meanwhile a delighted Swann was elated at taking five or more wickets in a Test innings for the 11th time and the first since his five for 62 against Pakistan at Lord's last year.
"It's been such a long time coming," Swann said. I never thought I'd get another one." India, despite three hundreds from Rahul Dravid, rarely posted a competitive total in the four Tests and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said: "The problem was we didn't score over 300 once in the series. "We tried our best but we didn't get much time together before the series because the players were coming from the West Indies."
India resumed on Monday's fifth and final day on 129 for three, still 162 runs shy of England's first innings 591 for six declared featuring man-of-the-match Ian Bell's Test-best 235 and Kevin Pietersen's 175. Tendulkar was 25 not out and Mishra eight not out. England, who'd replaced India at the top of the ICC's Test Championship table with an innings and 242 run victory at Edgbaston last time out, endured a wicketless morning session. But Tendulkar, whose previous best score this series was 56 in the second Test at Trent Bridge, should have been out for 70 when Alastair Cook at short leg dropped a bat-pad catch off Swann.
There was further frustration for Swann and England when Tendulkar was dropped by wicketkeeper Matt Prior on 85. But Swann made the breakthrough an increasingly anxious England wanted when Mishra, playing for turn that never came, was bowled, having easily surpassed his previous Test-best of 50 against Bangladesh in Chittagong last year. It was another fine effort with the bat by Mishra, who made 43 in a first innings 300 featuring India man-of-the-series Dravid's 146 not out, after taking no wickets for a hugely expensive 170 runs with his leg-spinners.
Tendulkar though seemed set to complete his ton of tons. But nine runs short the 38-year-old was lbw to seamer Tim Bresnan. Australian umpire Rod Tucker took his time before raising his finger, with replays indicating the ball would have just clipped the top of leg stump. Tendulkar, walked off to a standing ovation after his best score of the series, topping his 57 in the second Test at Trent Bridge.
He batted for nearly four hours, facing 172 balls with 11 fours. Wickets then tumbled in quick succession, with Suresh Raina lbw to Swann to complete a 42-ball pair before Dhoni drove loosely at Stuart Broad, armed with the new ball and was well caught by Swann in the slips for three. Broad, England's man-of-the-series with 25 wickets and 182 runs, then had RP Singh caught behind for a duck. Swann removed Gautam Gambhir, caught in the gully, and then finished the match by bowling last man Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
SCOREBOARD
-- England 1st Innings 591-6 dec (I Bell 235, K Pietersen 175; S Sreesanth 3-123)
-- India 1st Innings 300 (R Dravid 146 no, T Bresnan 3-54, G Swann 3-102)
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India 2nd Innings (overnight: 129-3)
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V. Sehwag b Swann 33
R. Dravid c Cook b Swann 13
V. Laxman b Anderson 24
S. Tendulkar b Bresnan 91
A. Mishra b Swann 84
S. Raina lbw b Swann 0
MS Dhoni c Swann b Broad 3
G. Gambhir c Morgan b Swann 3
RP Singh c Prior b Broad 0
I. Sharma not out 7
S. Sreesanth b Swann 6
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Extras: (b12, lb7) 19
Total; (all out, 91 overs, 390 mins) 283
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Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-64, 3-118, 4-262, 5-262, 6-266, 7-269, 8-269, 9-275, 10-283
Bowling: Anderson 17-4-54-1; Broad 20-2-44-2; Swann 38-6-106-6; Bresnan 11-2-30-1; Bopara 3-0-13-0; Pietersen 2-0-17-0.
England: Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior (wkt), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson
Result: England won by an innings and eight runs
Man-of-the-match: Ian Bell (ENG)
Series: England win four-match series 4-0
England-man-of-the-series: Stuart Broad
India man-of-the-series: Rahul Dravid
Previous Results
Jul 21-25: 1st Test, Lord's: ENG won by 196 runs
Jul 29-August 01: 2nd Test, Nottingham: ENG won by 319 runs
August 10-13: 3rd Test, Birmingham: ENG won by an innings and 242 runs
Toss: England
Umpires: Simon Taufel (AUS) and Rod Tucker (AUS)
TV umpire: Steve Davis (AUS)
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).
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