England players celebrate their victory over India on the fourth day of the third Test at the Edgbaston cricket ground in Birmingham yesterday. England now lead the four-Test series 3-0 and also displaced India as the world’s top-ranked Test side

AFP/BirminghamJames Anderson took four wickets as England became the world’s number one Test side with a crushing innings and 242 run victory against India at Edgbaston yesterday. England’s second successive win inside four days saw them take the third Test in emphatic fashion and gave them an unbeatable 3-0 lead in this four-match series. It also meant they’d won this series by the two-match margin they needed to replace India at the top of the ICC’s Test Championship table. It is the first time England have occupied pole position since the table’s creation in 2003. “(Getting to number one) has been a goal of ours for some time and it’s a great testament to everyone involved,” said England captain Andrew Strauss. “It fills me with a lot of pride to be able to stand up here and know that we have achieved something very special as a group. “The guys have put in a lot of hard graft over the two years and they have got what they deserved.” India were dismissed for 244 in their second innings after man-of-the-match Alastair Cook’s career-best 294 had propelled England to a massive first innings 710 for seven declared—their highest Test total in 73 years. “He has amazing determination and concentration,” Strauss said of fellow left-handed opener Cook. “He is in a patch at the moment where he knows what his game is, and he’s a great example to us all that if you just stay in your bubble there’s nothing you can’t achieve.” Only Sachin Tendulkar offered any top-order resistance yesterday with 40 before his latest quest to score an unprecedented 100th international hundred ended in unlucky fashion when he was run-out backing up. India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni finished on 74 not out and shared a stand of 75 with Praveen Kumar for the eighth wicket. Kumar made 40, his Test-best score coming in just 18 balls with three sixes—all against off-spinner Graeme Swann—and five fours. But the gutsy No 9 was merely delaying the inevitable. This defeat was the worst of a series where India had already lost by the large margins of 196 and 319 runs at Lord’s and Trent Bridge respectively. “We were not really up to the mark in this series and the margin of defeat is only getting bigger and bigger,” said Dhoni. “There are areas where we need to improve as a side, our bowling and batting department has not really clicked in this series. India resumed on 35 for one after losing Virender Sehwag for a ‘king pair’ to Anderson late on Friday. Anderson then struck twice early yesterday to remove both Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid for their overnight scores of 14 and 18 respectively. Dravid, caught behind, seemed uncertain as to whether he’d edged the ball but walked off without reviewing the decision. New batsman Venkatsai Laxman could only manage two before, pushing tentatively outside off-stump, he too fell to Anderson. Laxman’s exit gave Anderson his 237th Test wicket, one more than the late Sir Alec Bedser, also a fast-medium bowler, as he moved up into seventh place in England’s all-time list. Suresh Raina was then lbw for 10 as he misread Swann’s arm-ball. Tendulkar, who had looked in good touch while striking eight fours, was then run-out after Dhoni drove at Swann only for the bowler to deflect the ball onto the non-striker’s stumps with the ‘Little Master’ just shy of his ground.