#2 279 runs, vs England, Leeds (1986)
Playing without both Ian Botham and David Gower, the English team recalled the 37-year old John Lever, and gave a debut to keeper Bruce Fench. However, the team lacked the spite to trouble the Indian team, who extracted their biggest defeat in terms of runs, a record that stands till date.
Batting first, India scored a sedate 272, riding on Dilip Vengsarkar’s 61. With Chetan Sharma injured, Madan Lal shared the new ball with Kapil Dev. However, it was the medium pace of Roger Binny that did the maximum damage, who picked up one of his five-wicket hauls in his career, as the hosts were bundled out for just 102.
In the second innings, the 37-year-old Lever bowled testing lines, but a lone-hand from Dilip Vengsarkar, who remained unbeaten on 102, helped India post 237, setting the hosts a target of 408.
The response was as feeble as the first one, with Maninder Singh coming into his own this time, swooping the lower half of the batting line-up that was dented at the top by Kapil Dev and Binny. Six wickets fell for 90 runs, and the hosts folded for 128.
