Ashwin takes six; India clinches series

England, which resumed on 182 for six, was bundled out for 195, a little over half an hour into the final day.

Team India celebrates the fall of a wicket on Monday.

Ravichandran Ashwin outfoxed England’s last four batsmen in a little over half an hour as India won the fourth Test at the Wankhede Stadium here by an innings and 36 runs. With the win, it also took an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-Test series.

>Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

A good number of people had turned up to watch an India win at the Wankhede on Monday, and they didn’t have to wait long. It took just 32 minutes for Ashwin to clean up the tail and the team acknowledged the support of the crowd by doing a lap of honour after the victory.

READ: >Captain Kohli relishing 'sweetest' win in recent times

Skipper Virat Kohli readily placed the Test series win against England above the victories over Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand.

Splendid batting from Kohli and Jayant Yadav followed by the bowling efforts of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin had placed India in a strong position. The fourth day had ended on an upbeat note for the host when Ashwin, after taking some beating from the fourth wicket pair of Joe Root and Jonathan Bairstow, drew a risk-prone shot from Ben Stokes and outwitted Jake Ball.

On the final day, Kohli opted for a double-spin attack to start the proceedings. A good old fashioned leg-trap was set and England’s hopes of making India bat again largely depended on the ability of Jonathan Bairstow and Jos Buttler to counter-attack the Indian spinners.

As it transpired, Ashwin struck in the 15th ball of the day, winning a leg before decision against Bairstow after the off-spinner’s knuckle ball forced the right-hander to play the wrong line. He had to make the long walk back after an unsuccessful challenge.

It was all over soon as Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and Jimmy Anderson showed little resistance. While Buttler was left stranded on a single digit score of six, Ashwin finished with 4-11 from the morning spell.

The pressure was too much to bear for the England lower-order and Ashwin finished with figures of 6-55 following his first innings effort of 6-112 when the batting conditions were good.

It was for the third time that Ashwin had taken 12 or more wickets in a Test match and his 12 for 167 is the best match figures for a spinner at the Wankhede Stadium.

Four years ago, against the same team here, Ashwin had registered figures of 2 for 145 and none for 22 and India had lost that match.