Captain Alastair Cook hails England's fourth-test victory over India
Skipper praises performance as the hosts win the fourth test by an innings and 54 runs to lead 2-1 with one match remaining at the Oval
England captain Alastair Cook hailed a remarkable reversal of fortune after his side thrashed India to win the fourth test by an innings and 54 runs inside three days at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Cook admitted England had been at "rock bottom" almost three weeks earlier when a 95-run loss at Lord's - their 10th successive test without a win - left them 1-0 down in the five-match series.
But having stopped the rot with a 266-run win in the third test at Southampton, England completed an even more crushing victory in Manchester to go 2-1 up in the series ahead of this week's finale at the Oval.
You don't often get nine wickets in a session against any team. We got on a roll straight after tea
Having bowled India out for just 152 in the first innings, with man-of-the-match Stuart Broad taking six for 25, England then made 367 with young guns Joe Root (77) and Jos Buttler (70) putting on 134 for the seventh wicket.
But few could have foreseen how the match was to end, with India losing nine wickets after tea on Saturday's third day in being dismissed for 161.
The collapse was even more surprising given that, by then, Broad was off the field with a broken nose suffered when he missed a Varun Aaron bouncer while batting on Saturday.
"You don't often get nine wickets in a session against any team," said Cook.
"We got on a roll straight after tea. Then we knew we could get the job done by tonight."