2 months ago
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At the end of an undulating Test match that transformed into an intense battle of the wills, it was England who emerged victorious. India were just 23 runs short of their target when, at 4.54pm on the final day, Mohammed Siraj repelled a bouncing delivery from Shoaib Bashir, only to see it trickle back on to the stumps and knock off a bail.
It was a galling way for the tourists to go 2-1 down, while the jubilant hosts still resembled the survivors in a disaster movie. Both sides deserve credit for five dramatic days; the second of back-to-back Tests that began in a heatwave and hit boiling point once a row about time-wasting blew up day three. Unlike similar scenes at Lord’s four years ago – Virat Kohli’s “60 overs of hell” match – England just about kept their heads this time.
Even so their players and supporters were put through the ringer, with Ravindra Jadeja’s marathon unbeaten 61 turning 112 for eight at lunch into a slow-burn thriller that drove India within touching distance of their 193-run goal. The needle notably melted away once the celebrations subsided, Joe Root among those to console the bereft Siraj and shake hands with Jadeja after his near five-hour rearguard.
Jofra Archer’s return added 90mph-plus menace to England’s attack and also a shift in the mood overall, delivering two wickets on the final day and a nasty blow to Siraj’s arm the over before the winning moment. Had Archer simply got through his first Test in four years unscathed, it probably would have been deemed a success.
But England’s slim lead chiefly came down to the unrelenting Ben Stokes and a match littered with typical interventions from the all-rounder. Five wickets, 77 runs and a game-changing run-out on day three, plus 24 overs thundered down in the fourth innings in spite of that rebellious body – the England captain’s fingerprints were all over this one.
It was also a victory for his side’s newfound pragmatism on this sluggish surface, set up as it was by a patient climb to 387 all out in the first innings that was built around Root’s 37th Test century. Somehow, despite 12 wickets in his two appearances this series, including seven here at Lord’s, Jasprit Bumrah has lost both times he has played.
Bumrah did his utmost to prevent this, the No 10 emerging after lunch and supporting Jadeja for a gimlet-eyed stand that chiselled off 35 runs and nearly spanned the entire afternoon. That was until the sixth over of Stokes’s second marathon spell induced a top-edge from Bumrah for the breakthrough England feared might never come.
Jadeja now found himself with 45 runs still to go and Siraj for company. Tea was delayed by 30 minutes in expectation of the coup de grâce but, in a continuation of the staring contest, this match tipped into its final session. Bashir, who busted his left little finger earlier in the match, emerged to send down 5.5 overs, with the 21-year-old’s final ball, the one that did for Siraj, surely his most memorable to date.
It said everything about India’s spirit that they should turn this final day into such an epic, rather than throwing in the towel after lunch. After that frenetic last session the evening before that left them four down, 135 still to go, a bumper fifth day crowd split by way of loyalties witnessed a morning in which an English victory march felt inevitable.
Both the betting exchanges and the WinViz gizmo had the tourists as slim favourites when they resumed first thing, while the noise that met the first run – Rishabh Pant squirting Stokes for a single off his hip – underlined their strong support in the stands. With the ball already 17.4 overs old, England had to get it talking before it softened.
Stokes had to start out after signing off the previous evening with the removal of Akash Deep mid-over and the in-out field underlined the balance the England captain needed to strike between attack and defence. Traditional thinking might typically have led to Brydon Carse deployed in tandem from the Pavilion End after his two late strikes.
But Archer was given the nod here and repaid Stokes in just his second over of the morning, responding to an early charging four from Pant with a beauty that nipped down the slope and uprooted his off-stump on nine. Even impaired by a finger injury, this cheap removal of the potentially dangerous Pant felt a huge moment.
Its significance was trumped by Stokes trapping KL Rahul lbw for 39 three overs later with a ball that jagged into the right-hander. It took a review to get the decision, however, with the two noises heard shown to be bat on pad and three reds flashing up on the big screen. Both ends had been opened up.
The champagne moment? Beyond Bashir having the final say, it was Archer’s fourth-ball removal of Washington Sundar courtesy of a sparkling one-handed diving return catch. With India 82 for seven after just seven overs of action, a pendulum that had swung wildly all match was now pointing squarely back at England.
A partnership finally formed, the Indian cheers grew with every run, and another flashpoint bubbled when Carse and Jadeja collided mid-pitch. Stokes, who stepped in to separate them, finally had to relent after nine overs on the bounce, tasking Chris Woakes to see out the session after a previous struggle to catch the captain’s eye.
Just as thoughts were turning to lunch, and having already sent down a pinpoint maiden, Woakes went wide, nipped one away and Nitish Kumar Reddy feathered behind for 13. Folks expecting a quick kill thereafter were misguided, however. No question, every single player here has earned their week off before the series moves to Old Trafford.
