ENG v IND: Indian top-order stutters as Lord’s Test heads for thrilling finish
It was pure cinema at Lord’s on Sunday. Heated arguments, animated conversations between players, banter among fans over some cheeky time strategies – the day had it all!
With both teams back to square one after their respective first batting essays, the fourth day of the Lord’s Test was all about gaining and maintaining advantage. While a commanding bowling display gave the visitor early confidence, England picked up four quick wickets, for 58 runs, in the final hour of play.
Highlights of day 4: As it happened
After setting a target of 193 for India to win and extend its lead in the five-match series, England went on the offensive. Jofra Archer made full use of the inconsistent bounce on offer and dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal for the second time in the Test.
K.L. Rahul and Karun Nair steadied ship against the new ball, with a 36-run partnership for the second wicket, but a fatal error of judgement sent Karun back to the pavilion. The seasoned batter survived a number of close calls before Brydon Carse trapped him plumb in front. The England seamer then scooped the big wicket of Indian skipper Shubman Gill, all in the space of two overs.
With 15 minutes left in the day, Akash Deep joined Rahul as the nightwatchman, but Ben Stokes cleaned him up in the last over of the day. Contrasting visuals of a visibly tense Indian dugout and a jovial home side brought curtains down on the penultimate day of a match headed for a thrilling finish.
India still needs 135 runs on day five, while England will hunt for six wickets to go one-up in the series.
English falls and then rises
Stokes and Joe Root’s 67-run stand for the fifth wicket was the centrepiece of an otherwise forgetable outing for the English batters in the second innings. The host huffed and puffed to register 192. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj began with the same aggression the Indian side ended the previous day with.
England’s openers lived dangerously as they tried to grind out India’s pace assault. Siraj drew a mis-timed pull from Ben Duckett and made it a point to give him a hostile send-off. While the batting order uncomfortably navigated Bumrah’s overs from the Nursery End, Siraj went about his work, trapping Ollie Pope in front and successfully reviewing to claim a crucial wicket.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, who was introduced to allow Bumrah a breather, brushed aside the initial flurry of boundaries conceded off his bowling to dismiss Zak Crawley, with Jaiswal taking a crucial catch at gully.
Harry Brook joined Root in the English effort to counterattack, but Akash Deep sent back the former. Washington Sundar’s spin trap then earned Gill’s faith, with the allrounder picking up four wickets, including the key scalps of Root and the dangerous Jamie Smith, to quash England’s dreams of setting a more competitive target.
However, as the day progressed, India let it slip.
