India broke through the stubbornEngland resistance with a morning burst of five wickets beforesurging to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory in the openingcricket Test for a 1-0 lead in the four-match series heretoday.
Needing 77 runs to record their first win at this venuein seven years on a crumbling and dusty pitch, India achievedthe target when they made 80 for one in 16.3 overs after lunchwith more than half a day to spare.
Openers Virender Sehwag (25) and Cheteshwar Pujara (41not out), who scored a double hundred in the huge firstinnings total of 521 for 8 declared, polished off the majorpart of the target by adding 57 runs in only 9.5 overs.
Earlier, left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha prised open thevictory door for the hosts when he broke through England'sresolute batting by packing off overnight batsmen Matt Prior(91) and Alastair Cook (176) in 12 balls to virtually bringthe visitors to their knees.
The two had kept England afloat yesterday with adetermined partnership which had helped the visitors avoid aninnings defeat and had raised their hopes of even saving thegame. The pair remained unconquered last evening with thevisitors on 340 for five, an overall lead of 10 runs.
Ojha's two for 18 burst in 11 overs was complemented byUmesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Zaheer Khan who grabbed awicket each as England slumped from 356 for five to 406 allout in just over 16 overs and in 113 minutes of play thismorning.
Ojha, who grabbed 4 for 120 in the second innings to addto his superb haul of 5 for 45 in the first, emerged as themost successful bowler from the game.
Pujara, who made an unbeaten 206 in the first essay andopened the innings in place of a bereaved Gautam Gambhir, wasthe most successful batsman for India.
In the second innings, Pujara and Virat Kohli (14 notout) steered Indian home without being separated.
Sehwag was caught just inside the long on rope by KevinPietersen off Graeme Swann after striking one four and a sixin his 21-ball knock.
Kohli hit the winning run, a four off Swann, 51 minutesafter lunch to seal victory while Pujara remained unconqueredafter facing 51 balls and striking eight fours.
The victory broke the seven-year winless run for Indiaat this ground. The team had last won here in December 2005,Sri Lanka being the losing side.
This was also their fourth win here in 12 encounters andtheir fifth in the last six Tests played at home going back tolast season's triumphant series against the West Indies.
The two teams will now proceed to Mumbai for the secondTest at the Wankhede Stadium commencing on November 23, to befollowed by the third and last Tests at Kolkata (Dec 5-9) andNagpur (Dec 13-17).
England's first innings collapse for 191 against Ojha andAshwin was the root cause of their massive defeat though theyfought back well through captain Alastair Cook who batted fora marathon 560 minutes spread over three days.
But once Ojha broke the partnership between Cook andPrior at 356, the England resistance started dwindling and thecaptain's dismissal virtually ended it though the last threewickets put on 41 runs.
The visitors were all out seven minutes before thescheduled lunch interval, prompting an early break.
Ojha dealt the crucial blows on England in the space ofonly 12 balls, breaking the stubborn sixth-wicket standbetween Cook and Prior.
Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Zaheer Khan polishedoff the tail in style to leave the hosts a small target tochase.
Ojha finished with 4 for 120 after a fine morning spellof 2 for 18 in 11 overs.
The visitors lost their last five wickets for the addition of 66 runs in 26.3 overs.
After being frustrated by Cook and Prior since theafternoon session yesterday, Ojha dismissed the two in superbfashion by deceiving both with his turn off the bowlers' roughto prise open the doors of victory for India before lunch.
Yadav then packed off England vice captain Stuart Broadfor 3 to leave the visitors tottering at 378 for 8 in theirsecond innings, in effect 48 for 8 having conceded a 330-runfirst innings lead to the hosts.
Zaheer Khan ended the England innings by having TimBresnan (20 in 75 minutes) caught at short extra cover bysubstitute fielder Ajinkya Rahane.
This morning, Ojha dislodged Prior by accepting thereturn catch and then struck the biggest blow to the Englishhopes by clean bowling Cook.
India opened this morning with Zaheer keeping it tightfrom one end and Ojha attacking at the other and the move paidoff in grand style after 35 minutes with the left arm spinnerstriking two body blows on England.
First he made Prior drive on the up a sharply turningball that seemed to stop a bit on pitching to accept the easyreturn catch with the fourth ball of his third over of themorning.
The England stumper had stayed at the wicket for 240minutes and faced 225 balls in which he hit 11 fours. He alsoput on 157 runs for the sixth wicket with his captain in364 balls, the partnership starting yesterday after lunch andending this morning.
Cook's defiant knock, that had commenced two days ago in the afternoon session and lasted the entire day yesterday,finally ended 55 minutes after start of play on the last day.
At Cook's dismissal, England were just 35 runs ahead ofthe hosts with three wickets in hand and their first defeat inthe four-game series loomed large. And it was also the26-year-old Ojha's fourth wicket of the innings and ninth ofthe match.
The visitors lost three wickets for the addition of 22runs in seven overs to leave India on the doorsteps of theirfirst victory at this venue after December, 2005 when theydefeated Sri Lanka by 259 runs, and their 4th here in 12Tests.
Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan got together to put on 28valuable runs before the former's off stump sent back byAshwin as he tried to reverse sweep the off spinner to leaveEngland 76 runs ahead overall.
Ashwin, wicket less in the second innings after histhree-wicket haul in the first, was brought on in place ofOjha after the 23rd over, 25 minutes before the end of thefirst session after the left arm spinner was carted for a sixby Swann.