LONDON: It was supposed to be a one hard-fought day of cricket and Day 4 of the third Test between India and England here at the Lord's Cricket Ground lived up to its billing. If the last over bowled by India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah on Saturday was a precursor to what's in the store in the day to follow, what finally panned out in front of a jam-packed stadium the next day exceeded expectations.
With the pitch offering uneven bounce, India did well to bowl out England for 192 in their second innings. But that was just the beginning as chasing a tricky 193 target on such a surface was never going to be easy and that was what exactly happened.
The visitors lost four wickets for just 58 in their pursuit for a remarkable win as the match headed to an exciting finish on the final day. Previous innings centurion KL Rahul was unbeaten on 33 when the bails were drawn.
Earlier, a fired-up Indian team descended on the hallowed turf on Sunday morning with Bumrah firing on all cylinders. The wearing down day four surface with uneven bounce made him almost unplayable as he racked up the pace to unsettle English batters. With Mohammed Siraj complementing him well, the first session became almost unbearable for the home team.
Zak Crawley, who was at the centre of the time-wasting duel only a few hours ago, was understandably at the receiving end with Bumrah again hitting his top hand in the second over of the day. Even as he was looking out of place, his opening partner Ben Duckett raced to 12 off 12 providing some respite to the English supporters. That joy, however, was short-lived as Siraj got him out giving a send-off while having shoulder contact with the batter. Umpires even had a word with the Hyderabad pacer after India's huddle.
The new batter, Ollie Pope, didn't survive long as India successfully reviewed an LBW appeal giving Siraj his second wicket of the day. While his partner was racking up wickets, Bumrah was at his best from the other end even as his wicket column was empty. The uneven bounce on the offer was utilised to the fullest by the pacer. He kept targeting the good length spot from where the balls were either rising wickedly onto the handle of the bat or just keeping low and skidding. His first spell of 5-0-21-0 might suggest otherwise but it was that spectacular bowling that eventually helped Nitish Kumar Reddy in getting the wicket of now an indecisive Crawley for the second time in the match.
Akash Deep joined the party soon, as he had counter-attacking Harry Brook to break the back of England's batting by lunch. All hopes rested on their most experienced batter Joe Root and captain Ben Stokes and they saw off a difficult period to add 67 runs for the fourth wicket as the hosts crossed the 150-run mark.
When it looked like things had started settling down, Root attempted a sweep only to regret it later as Washington Sundar castled him behind the pads. That wicket changed the course of the match for Stokes and Co as they lost the remaining five wickets for only 38 runs to get bowled out for 192 in 62.1 overs. The Tamil Nadu spinner scalped four while Bumrah and Siraj walked away with two wickets each. India bowlers overall claimed 12 bowled dismissals in the match, their highest in men's Tests and the most by any team in men's Tests since 1955
Having watched and later experienced Bumrah's spell from the Nursery End, Stokes employed the same tactics to extract the uneven bounce from the deteriorating Lord's strip. And who else than Jofra Archer can fetch him the desired results. Agree it was not the best of the balls but the back of length delivery was enough to cramp India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for room as the ball ballooned to the wicketkeeper Jamie Smith for a simple catch. Jaiswal's twin failure in the contest - he made 13 in the first innings before getting out for a nought on Sunday - meant Rahul was joined by his former Karnataka teammate Karun Nair in the middle with the scoreboard reading 5/1 inside two overs.But as was the case with England innings, the pitch was not playing easy. A Brydon Carse's delivery nipped back a little and stayed low, trapping Nair in front of the wickets. Gill was the next to go before night watchman Akash Deep's wicket ended the day's play.
