LONDON: Rishabh Pant. Washington Sundar. Gabba 2021. Two of the architects of one of India’s most thrilling Test wins may have to channelise that energy again if India are to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
On a thrilling Day Four at Lord’s between India and England, both sides stretched every sinew, spent every ounce of energy and left it all out in unrelenting heat. Fourteen wickets fell, shoulders were barged, visceral celebrations was a dominating theme, fours and sixes went out of fashion and stumps were uprooted multiple times but it barely begins to tell a story of what will go down as one of the greatest days of long-form format cricket in recent times. The visitors need 135 runs to script a famous win. The hosts need six wickets to engineer a thrilling heist.
Two hours into Sunday, the atmosphere was crackling, like a heavy discharge of industrial grade current. The ground was heaving even if the hosts were under the pump. The feisty Mohammed Siraj had made contact with Ben Duckett’s shoulder after a mistimed pull didn’t clear mid on. Nitish Reddy screamed in the general direction of Zak Crawley after the opener found one of the two gullies. Siraj was in happy rage after finding Ollie Pope plumb and Akash Deep, who opened up about his sister’s fight with cancer, had let out a visceral scream after spread-eagling Harry Brook’s middle-stump.
When the players walked off for lunch, it was ironic because what could on the menu that was going to better two hours of cricket in excelsis? Post lunch, Washington burst into life as he targeted the stumps on a surface doing bits and bobs for all bowlers. He smashed through England’s spine to halt the Bazballers.
But Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse and Co. smell blood after a raucous end to another sun-kissed day. If the visitors are to feel at home in Home of Cricket on a sold out Monday, Pant, Washington and KL Rahul will likely have another big day.