India aced many battles but England won the war in Lord's Test

The National

11 hours ago

As Jasprit Bumrah and then Mohammed Siraj battled on with unprecedented determination into the final sessions of the third match between India and England at Lord's, tension reached levels which only Test cricket can dream of providing.
England had the match in the bag at the stroke of lunch when Ravindra Jadeja saw the last recognised batter – Nitish Kumar Reddy – edge one behind to the keeper.
At 112-8, the target of 193 was above and beyond India's reach. Their lower order, after all, had made a name for itself by folding in record quick time in recent times; the tourists had lost the first Test mainly because of disastrous collapses of 7-41 and 6-30.
But on Monday, the tail decided to fight. And fight with the collective strength of every tail-ender who does not know how to score or defend expertly, but is desperate to do so.
Bumrah blocked one end for 54 deliveries. Siraj – a proper number 11 – battled for 30. Jadeja at the other end took India closer one run per over at a time.
Then, Siraj defended a ball from injured spinner Shoaib Bashir almost perfectly. The ball went straight down, spun around his legs and brushed the stumps to dislodge the bails. England won the Lord's Test by 22 runs and took a 2-1 series lead.
While the final couple of sessions of the Lord's Test were a testament to the grit and determination of India's lower order, the series result so far is a reminder that Test cricket ultimately rewards those who don't falter on the fundamentals of the game.
England stick to the basics
India had already paid a huge price in the first Test by dropping close to 10 chances across both innings and collapsing with the bat twice.
In the second Test at Edgbaston, Shubman Gill 's team barely put a foot wrong and outplayed England on all five days.
At Lord's, the margins were fine but England took the game away from India by reducing their own mistakes and capitalising on the visitor's errors.
In the first innings, KL Rahul dropped a straightforward chance from in-form keeper Jamie Smith when he had just come in. Smith went on to make a fifty and England posted a competitive 387.
Then when it was India's turn to bat, they looked well on their way to a 100-run lead when Rahul and wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant were at the crease.
With Rahul approaching a ton and Pant on 74, India were coasting at 248-3 by lunch on Day 3. Then, Pant went for a non-existent single to get Rahul on strike for his century and was run out.
India could only manage to match England's first innings score from there.
Compare that to the first day where Stokes batted out the overs until stumps, even as Joe Root remained on 99.
Then in England's second innings, the pitch started to act up as the ball bounced unpredictably.
Dhruv Jurel was keeping in place of the injured Pant and while he did not grass many chances, there were a staggering 25 byes on his watch. That was the third highest score in England's score of 192. India ultimately lost by 22 runs.
Sticking to basics worked for England brilliantly in the field and they took almost every chance that came their way.
Root held on to a stunning one-handed catch in the first innings to see the back of Karun Nair who was batting well on 40. It was a world record 211th Test take by Root, surpassing India great Rahul Dravid who took 210 catches between 1996 and 2012.
In the second innings, Jofra Archer took an acrobatic return catch off Washington Sundar. Both were difficult chances and had either not stuck, India could have won the Test.
Home keeper Smith did not allow a single bye, compared to India's 25, on the final day even though Archer and Brydon Carse were operating around 90mph almost the entire day on an up and down pitch.
Coach Brendon McCullum and Stokes have found a simple yet effective formula of succeeding this series – don't commit basic errors. That means not losing hope even if the other team is 248-3 or 430-3, as was the case in the first Test.
It has been the ultimate game of 'who blinks first' and England have won it two times out of three.