By Callum Dent
England secured a 3-1 Investec Test Series victory after India produced another woeful batting display to lose the fifth and final match by an innings and 244 runs at the Kia Oval.
Trailing by 338 courtesy of Joe Root’s unbeaten 149, India were skittled out for just 94 inside 30 overs with Chris Jordan taking 4-18.
Dismissed for just 148 first time around, the tourists’ top-order again failed to negotiate the swing and seam from England’s pacemen, with only Stuart Binny offering any sort of resistance courtesy of a streaky unbeaten 25.
To make matters worse for India, they were architects of their own downfall on two occasions when Gautam Gambhir and Varun Aaron both needlessly ran themselves out.
The victory for the hosts, their third consecutive following triumphs at the Ageas Bowl and Emirates Old Trafford, represents a remarkable transformation from Peter Moores’ side after they slipped 1-0 behind in the rubber following the convincing defeat at Lord’s.
Earlier, Root completed his fifth Test ton and shared an explosive fifty partnership in just 31 balls with Stuart Broad as England set the tone for the rest of the day.
The hosts racked up an unbelievable 101 runs in 11.3 overs, with Root at the heart of the action, to post a commanding first-innings total of 486 and run India into the ground.
He wasted little time in recording his fifth Test hundred, whipping Ishant Sharma through midwicket in the third over.
Root, with the most format centuries for England before the age of 24, did lose partner Jordan next ball, though, the right-hander edging Ishant behind to end a stand of 82.
The Yorkshireman was given a reprieve on 110 when he inside-edged Ishant onto the stumps, only for replays to show the paceman had overstepped.
Broad came out all guns blazing, hitting a quintet of fours and a maximum, until he fended off an Ishant bouncer to Virat Kohli, although the left-hander was unfortunate to depart for a 21-ball 37 as his glove was off the bat when it hit it.
Root, who operated in one-day mode, was left stranded one short of 150 when James Anderson was pinned lbw by Ravichandran Ashwin.
England continued the momentum generated from their exciting batting display by ripping through India either side of a short rain delay on the stroke of lunch.
Murali Vijay was trapped lbw by Anderson, who had Cheteshwar Pujara caught behind after Gambhir was run out by a Chris Woakes direct-hit.
Gary Ballance then produced a fine diving one-handed catch at third slip to dismiss Ajinkya Rahane off Broad before Mahendra Singh Dhoni fended a short Woakes ball off his hip to Sam Robson at short-leg.
The introduction of Jordan was an inspired change by Alastair Cook, the paceman hurrying his side to victory with four wickets in 4.2 overs.
Kohli, trying to play into the leg side, edged to Cook at first slip before Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar both fell to catches from Ian Bell in the cordon, the first after a Ballance fumble.
And after Aaron ran himself out trying to sneak a non-existent second run, Jos Buttler whipping off the bails following a pinpoint Moeen Ali throw from the deep, Ishant fended off a sharp bouncer to the same fielder to end things.
Match scorecard / Live ball-by-ball commentary
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Post-Match Reaction
England skipper Alastair Cook was understandably full of praise for his team after they fought back to claim the series win in such emphatic fashion, saying: "(It was) an amazing turnaround. After Lord's to have won like we have won over the last three games - the guys can take a huge amount of credit and also the new coaching staff Peter Moores and Paul Farbrace."
Cook had suggested after Lord's that he thought his side could still battle back to win the series, but admitted he hardly expected the seismic shift in power. "No, not like we have done in the last two games. All summer before we won at Southampton we played cricket in patches. To maintain the pressure on India like we did in the last three games - I think the last hour here showed that and they kind of crumbled in the end but I think that was from relentless pressure."
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni lamented the final three Tests but vowed that his young players would learn from the experience."The last three Test matches we were not really up to the mark and by that I mean we never really competed.
"I think today's batting was a reflection of a batting order that has lost a lot of confidence over the five Test match series. Yes, it is very disappointing but still I think there's plenty that the youngsters will have learned. Not many have played over here when it comes to Test cricket."
James Anderson was named England's man of the series after finishing top of the wicket-taker's chart and believes he is bowling as well as he has ever done. "I'm in a good place with the ball. I think the way that all four seamers have bowled in the last three Test has been outstanding and it has been a huge group effort.
"It's ended in a good way for us - we've fought back really well. Some of the performances throughout this series have been outstanding so I feel very lucky to be standing here holding this award."
Joe Root was named man of the match and thinks the green shoots of a new era were revealed during the series win."It's just a start really. We've got ambitions of being a really strong side that can contend with everyone. Hopefully we can build on this. I know it is a long time until we play Test cricket again, but it's been a great series."
Afternoon Session
This is England's fifth biggest win in history and India's third worst defeat #bbccricket
— BBC TMS (@bbctms) August 17, 2014
4.23pm - WICKET! Ishant c Moeen b Jordan 2; Ind 94 all out - ENGLAND WIN BY AN INNINGS AND 244 RUNS - Jordan finishes with 4-18. Ishant Sharma fends a short delivery into the air and Moeen takes the catch close to the wicket, leaving Binny stranded on 25.
4.09pm - WICKET! Aaron run out (Moeen) 1; Ind 84/9 - Varun Aaron is run out trying to sneak a second run, Buttler taking off the bails following a fine throw from Moeen in the deep.
4.04pm - WICKET! Bhuvneshwar c Bell b Jordan 4; Ind 74/8 - Jordan has a third when Bhuvneshwar edges to Bell for his second consecutive catch.
4pm - WICKET! Ashwin c Bell b Jordan 7; Ind 70/7 - Ravichandran Ashwin edges Jordan to the cordon and, after Ballance fumbles, Ian Bell holds on to the second attempt.
3.49pm - WICKET! Kohli c Cook b Jordan 20; Ind 62/6 - Kohli tries to play Jordan into the leg side, only to get an edge and Alastair Cook takes a smart catch at first slip.
3.46pm - CHANCE! - Kohli smashes a caught-and-bowled chance back at Woakes, but the bowler cannot hold on. That would have been some catch. Moeen, again on the fine-leg rope, then produces a great stop from a Stuart Binny inside edge.
3.39pm - Kohli flicks Chris Jordan, on for Broad at the Pavilion End, off his legs in the air towards long-leg, where the ball drops just short of an on-rushing Moeen Ali.
3.26pm - WICKET! Dhoni c Robson b Woakes 0; Ind 46/5 - India are crumbling now. Mahendra Singh Dhoni fends a short Woakes ball off his hip to Sam Robson at short-leg.
3.20pm - WICKET! Rahane c Ballance b Broad 4; Ind 45/4 - India lose another as Gary Ballance produces a superb one-handed catch diving to his left at third slip to remove Ajinkya Rahane.
3.15pm - Anderson is given a rest following a fine eight-over spell, replaced by Chris Woakes. Kohli flicks the Warwickshire man through midwicket for four. Lovely shot.
2.57pm - WICKET! Pujara c Buttler b Anderson 11; Ind 30/3 - I spoke too soon! Pujara pushes forward at an Anderson outswinger and edges behind to Jos Buttler.
2.50pm - Pujara rides a wide Broad delivery and cuts the paceman to the point boundary. He looks to be timing the ball nicely this afternoon.
2.43pm - Cheteshwar Pujara plays a wristy leg-flick for four off Anderson. Stuart Broad has another lbw appeal turned down, this time against Kohli, who then plays and misses the next delivery.
2.29pm - Virat Kohli squirts a James Anderson away-swinger down to the vacant third-man boundary as the afternoon session gets under way.
2.04pm - Providing there is no more wet weather, play will resume at 2.30pm with India nine for two in the seventh.
Covers slowly being removed at the Kia Oval. Sun peaking through the clouds. We’ll let you know more when we hear from the umps #EngvInd
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) August 17, 2014
Morning Session
And now it's chucking it down! Hopefully not for long #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/P2VdVp7b4r
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) August 17, 2014
12.49pm - WICKET! Gambhir run out (Woakes) 3; Ind 9/2 - Gambhir is sent back as he tries to sneak a single into the leg side and Chris Woakes' direct-hit runs him out. India are in trouble as heavy rain takes the players off 11 minutes before the scheduled lunch interval .
12.47pm - Gambhir gloves a leg-side delivery just short of a diving Jos Buttler before surviving another lbw appeal from Broad. It has got a little dark here. The rain could be returning.
12.42pm - WICKET! Vijay lbw Anderson 2; Ind 6/1 - Anderson pins Murali Vijay in front and England have their first breakthrough.
12.35pm - Broad goes up for a huge lbw appeal against Gautam Gambhir, who survives as the ball pitches outside leg. The left-hander then edges just short of Gary Ballance at third slip.
Joe Root is now the leading scorer in the series. 518 at 103.6 #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/BMAzuI1gVt
— BBC TMS (@bbctms) August 17, 2014
12.09pm - WICKET! Anderson lbw Ashwin 1; Eng 486 all out - James Anderson is pinned lbw by Ashwin to leave Root stranded on 149. England have a first-innings lead of 338.
12.08pm - England added 98 in the first hour this morning. Sensational stuff. There has been a little bit of rain in the air over the last 10 minutes, although it has passed and the sun is out again.
11.58am - Root is operating in one-day mode, sweeping and pulling Ravichandran Ashwin for back-to-back fours.
11.52am - WICKET! Broad c Kohli b Ishant 37; Eng 463/9 - Broad goes back to a short ball from Ishant and gloves it to Virat Kohli. That was a superb cameo from the left-hander. Replays show he was unlucky as the glove was off the bat when it hit it.
11.44am - Root cuts Aaron for a four that brings up the fifty partnership with Broad in just 31 balls. Root then cuts and punches Aaron down the ground for two more fours.
The current record for the fastest 50 in tests is 24 balls by Kallis. Broad is closing in! #bbcsport
— BBC TMS (@bbctms) August 17, 2014
11.40am - The short-ball tactics for Broad are not working. The left-hander hooks Ishant for a maximum and England have a lead of 300 now.
11.34am - Broad moves to 27 off just 10 balls with a fierce pull off Aaron. It's all happening this morning. The left-hander, on the back foot, then loops a bouncer just short of the fielder running in from point.
11.27am - REVIEW! - Root inside-edges on to his pad and the ball rebounds on to his stumps. However, he remains at the crease after replays show Ishant overstepped.
11.23am - Aaron concedes 16 off the over as Broad takes another two boundaries, through the off-side where there are no fielders in sight. Poor bowling.
11.20am - Stuart Broad shows no signs of his nose problem affecting his batting as he drives Ishant and Aaron behind point for boundaries.
. @joeroot05 's wagon-wheel... Top knock! #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/U0azISbTBS
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) August 17, 2014
11.13am - WICKET! Jordan c Dhoni b Ishant 20; Eng 400/8 - Chris Jordan tickles a fine delivery from Ishant behind to Dhoni, ending a stand of 82 with Root.
11.12am - CENTURY! Root (135b 10x4 1x6) - Root pushes Ishant through midwicket to collect three and move to his fifth Test ton and third of the summer.
11.07am - Joe Root moves to 97 with a boundary through the backward-point region off Varun Aaron.
11.05am - Ishant Sharma delivers a wild bouncer second ball that flies past a diving Mahendra Singh Dhoni and races away for four byes.
Pre-Play News
Day 3 is about to begin! @joeroot05 resumes on 92*. England 385-7. Lead 237 #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/omM6pVPEBF
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) August 17, 2014
10.50am - Root arrived at the crease during a mini collapse that saw four wickets, including half-centurions Alastair Cook and Gary Ballance, fall for just 38 runs in 11 overs. The Yorkshireman was unflustered by the pressure situation and shared in stands of 80 and 67 with Jos Buttler and Jordan respectively. Ballance, in his post-match interview with ecb.co.uk, was keen to stress the importance of Root’s knock.
10.40am - Joe Root will have a fifth Test century, and third of the summer, in his sights this morning, resuming on 92 following a stylish 129-ball innings. The right-hander and Chris Jordan have the responsibility to extending England’s first-innings lead of 237.
10.30am - Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the third day of the fifth and final Investec Test between England and India at the Kia Oval. There is no rain around yet, but we could have some stoppages later on. The elements are forecast to arrive from around noon.
Currently dry at the oval, but plenty of dark clouds around. Fingers crossed we start on time. On air 1025 #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/4tH0aZ6XL8
— BBC TMS (@bbctms) August 17, 2014