'Great day at pitch': PM Modi congratulates Virat Kohli & Team; Lauds vaccination drive

Twitter went berserk as India defeated England to win their first match at The Oval in London after 50 years. With this, India stands with a 2-1 sears lead with one match remaining which will be played at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. 

PM Narendra Modi congratulates Team India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Virat Kohli and Co. after their amazing performance at The Oval. PM Modi said that it is a great day for Indians on the pitch as well as the vaccination front. "Great day (again) on the vaccination front and on the cricket pitch. As always, #TeamIndia wins! #SabkoVaccineMuftVaccine[sic]," PM Modi tweeted. In a landmark achievement on Monday, India administered over one crore coronavirus vaccine doses. This magic number has been crossed thrice in the last 11 days as India's total vaccination coverage currently stands at 69.68 crores.

India vs England: Men in Blue crush England

Team India defeated England by a margin of 157 runs after posting massive 466 runs in the second innings, giving a target of 368 runs to the hosts. 

England got a dream start with openers Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burn playing more than 40 overs. However, Shardul Thakur's golden arm prived breakthrough to India. The fall of the wicket started a chain reaction. Dawid Malan was run out and Hameed was sent to the pavilion by Ravindra Jadeja. In this match, Jaspreet Bumrah became the quickest Indian bowler to take 100 Test wickets. Joe Root fell for 36, and Ollie Pope was bowled out for 2 runs. Wicket-keeper Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali couldn't even open their accounts.

After winning the match, Indian captain Virat Kohli praised the team for showing great character. He said that Team India was not looking to survive the match, but to win. "Rohit's innings was fantastic. What Shardul has done in this game stands out. His two fifties deflated the opposition," Kohli said.

Joe Root said that England had an opportunity to win the match. He said that Bumrah's spell was the changing point of the game. "We'll have one big push going ahead at OT (Old Trafford), injuries are something we need to manage," England captain said after the match.

Netizens react

Emotions ran high on social media platforms as India won its first match in The Oval after 50 years. Praising India, one user deemed Shardul 'lord of the match'. Meanwhile, another user congratulated Team India for the big win.

(Image: AP/PTI)