Tension explodes in final over drama at Lord’s after Gill’s heated exchange with Duckett, Crawley

LONDON: Temperaments flared, tension simmered, and the situation heated up in the final moments of Day 3 of the third Test between India and England at Lord’s, the ‘Home of Cricket’, on Saturday.

With a couple of minutes left before the day’s end, India players were all fired up, stepped on the ground, looking to make England’s openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett face as many deliveries as they could.

Jasprit Bumrah was handed the ball to rattle England’s top order. He tried to test Crawley with his variations, but after the second delivery, Bumrah appeared displeased, seemingly due to Crawley possibly wasting time. As Bumrah began his run-up, Crawley moved out of the way, further riling up the Indian players.

India captain Shubman Gill, stationed in the slip cordon, shouted something from the slips, and the other players had a go at Crawley too. On the fifth delivery, Crawley sustained a blow on the glove. He quickly removed the glove and asked the physio to have a look at it.

His reaction was met by sarcastic applause from the Indian players. Gill ran towards Crawley and made a gesture towards the pavilion. The English opener had a few words to say to the Indian captain, and Duckett had a heated exchange with Gill before the players resumed the game. On the final delivery, Bumrah bowled a beauty to bring an end to an absorbing day of cricket.

Former England cricketer Michael Atherton loved the element of spice towards the end and said on Sky Sports, “It felt like five minutes where I wouldn’t mind being out there! It was brilliant drama, great theatre. Harry Brook was laughing his head off on the England balcony when we looked up.”

“There was a bit of chit-chat, but I didn’t mind that. It was a red-blooded contest, and you have to give players a bit of leeway. I loved watching it. I thought it was a fantastic end to a nip-and-tuck day,” he added.

After three days of enticing cricket, India matched England’s first innings total of 387, before losing all of their wickets. England finished the day unscathed with a score of 2/0. (ANI)