Lord’s Test: India equals England’s total of 387 runs; hosts take 2-run lead (Day 3 Stumps)

LONDON:Opener KL Rahul’s ton, and left-hand batter Ravindra Jadeja’s 72 helped India to level the score at 387 on Saturday at Lord’s, which was also set up by England in the first innings of the Test match.

At stumps on Day 3, England are 2/0 with Zak Crawley (2) and Ben Duckett (0*) unbeaten on the crease. The Ben Stokes-led side have a two-run lead in the game after the completion of the third day of the Lord’s Test.

The Subman Gill-led side started off the third and final session from 316/5 in 91 overs, trailing by 71 runs, with Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy unbeaten on 40(70) and 25(77), respectively.

In the 95th over of the innings, Team India lost the sixth wicket as Nitish was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 30(91). He built a 72-run partnership along with Jadeja before going back to the pavilion.

Following Nitish’s dismissal, left-hand batter Washington Sundar came out to bat.

On the fourth ball of the 98th over, Jadeja slammed a boundary on the bowling of right-arm off-spinner Joe Root to complete his half-century.
India crossed the 350-run mark on the third ball of the 104th over as Sundar smashed a four on the bowling of Ben Stokes.

At the score of 376 in the 114th over, the visitors lost their seventh wicket as Jadeja was sent back to the dressing room after scoring 72(131), which was laced with eight fours and one six in his innings.

Akash Deep (7) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) were not able to disturb the scorers as they went back cheaply.

India were bowled out for 387, the same score at which the England side was dismissed. Sudar was the last one to get dismissed after scoring 23(76), which came with the help of one four and six each in his innings.

For the Three Lions, Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers for his side with three in his 27 overs, where he conceded 84 runs and bowled five maiden overs. Two wickets were grabbed by Jofra Archer (2/52 in 23.2 overs) & Ben Stokes (2/63 in 20 overs), and one wicket apiece were bagged by Brydon Carse (1/88 in 24 overs) & Shoaib Bashir (1/59 in 14.5 overs) in their respective spells of bowling.

Earlier, moments into the second session, Rahul notched up his second hundred of the series. He knocked the ball wide of mid-off, “yes, yes, yes” was the call as he scampered for a single to celebrate his second ton at Lord’s. He removed his helmet, raised both arms and soaked in the applause from the spectators, who witnessed his masterclass.

Rahul’s masterclass ended immediately after bringing up his record-breaking ton. On the first delivery of the next over, Rahul tried to hit spinner Shoaib Bashir’s flighted off-break through the covers, but all he could manage was a loose push. He gave an edge, which flew Harry Brook at the slips and Rahul made his way to the pavilion at 100(177).

India appeared rattled after Rahul’s dismissal. A mix-up between Jadeja and Reddy left the latter well short of the crease while sprinting for a single. Ollie Pope, who had all the time in the world, rushed his throw and missed the stumps.

More chaos ensued in running between the wickets. Reddy enjoyed another lucky break. He rushed halfway through the pitch, but Jadeja wasn’t interested, which forced him to rush back to the striker’s end. Pope was the culprit yet again as he missed the stumps.

Bashir sustained a finger injury after Jadeja came down the track and drilled it hard towards the spinner. Bashir put his left hand in the ball’s path and ended up sustaining an injury. He quickly asked for medical treatment and went off the field. Joe Root came in to finish the over.

With the second new ball available, England didn’t waste much time and went for it. Jadeja and Nitish played cautiously and offered stubborn resistance. England bowlers pushed hard for wickets, deployed a short ball ploy, Archer’s bursting pace, and tempting deliveries, but rued their missed chances.

The duo were caught in a mix-up for the third time. Jadeja and Nitish found themselves in the middle of the pitch, but Ben Duckett, off balance, missed the chance. Jadeja and Nitish ensured England returned empty-handed as the session ended.

Earlier in the day, India kicked off the proceedings in style as Rishabh Pant slammed a boundary on the first ball of the session, which right-arm seamer Jofra Archer bowled.

In the 54th over of the Indian innings, KL Rahul smashed three consecutive fours on the last three balls bowled by right-arm pacer Brydon Carse. With these three fours, KL Rahul took his tally of runs to 76 runs off 148 balls.

The visitors touched the 200-run mark on the last ball of the 57th over as Rahul took a single on the bowling of Ben Stokes.

Rahul-Pant brought up their 100-run partnership on the first ball of the 59th over when the team score was 207 as Stokes bowled a wide.
Pant brought up his fifty in great fashion as he slashed a six on the last ball of Stokes’ over.

In the last over just before lunch, Pant got run out with a brilliant direct throw from Ben Stokes. Pant went back to the pavilion after scoring 74 runs from 112 balls, which was laced with eight fours and two sixes in his innings.

So far, the hosts have grabbed four wickets in the bowling department. One wicket each have been bagged by Chris Woakes (1/73 in 19 overs), Jofra Archer (1/35 in 14 overs), and Ben Stokes (1/44 in 11 overs) in their respective spells.

Earlier in the match, England’s skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first.

Batting first, the Three Lions scored 387 runs thanks to a century stand between Root (104) and Ollie Pope (44) and a counter-attacking 82-run stand between Brydon Carse and Jamie Smith, who both struck fifties down the order.

For the Shubman Gill-led side, five wickets were snapped by Jasprit Bumrah in his spell of 27 overs, where he conceded 74 runs and bowled five maiden overs. Two wickets each were grabbed by Mohammed Siraj (2/85 in 23.3 overs) & Nitish Kumar Reddy (2/62 in 17 overs), and one wicket was bagged by left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (1/29 in 12 overs) in their respective spells.

Brief Scores: England: 387 & 2/0 (Ben Duckett 0*, Zak Crawly 2*; Jasprit Bumrah 0/2) vs India: 387 (KL Rahul 100, Rishabh Pant 74; Chris Woakes 3/84). (ANI)