India lose early wickets in chase after bowlers set it up

Hindustan Times

12 hours ago

Mumbai: A Lord's Test and an India bowling day. Cast your mind back to 2021 and those 60 overs of hell. It took India 62.1 overs this time to dismiss England for 192. But to get over the line this time, India have to chase those runs down. India's Yashasvi Jaiswal's was dismissed for a seven-ball duck during India's pursuit of a 193-run target against England at Lord's. (PTI)
England recorded four strikes late on Sunday in Yashasvi Jaiswal (0), out to an injudicious half pull, Karun Nair (14), gone to an ungainly leave, Shubman Gill (6), whose nervy vigil lasted nine balls, and nightwatchman Akash Deep (1).
Going into the fifth day on a pitch showing enough signs of wear and tear, India still have to score 135 runs. Like it has been a pattern in this series, it is anybody's game. At 58/4, India's hopes rest on KL Rahul, the first-innings centurion unbeaten on 33 at stumps.
England's stonewalling approach in the first innings was just a pause for Bazball. The ramps and the scoops were back on Day 4. If the Sunday crowd at Lord's had chosen cricket over the Wimbledon final anticipating a more frenetic action, it is just what they got. And the opening session is where India took charge.
The spice in the pitch that England had publicly called for but was unseen for three days suddenly became a talking point as Jasprit Bumrah began to get the ball to lift off the surface. One thing with deteriorating pitches, you don't know until there is a spike in parameters.
The moment Bumrah produced a brute of a delivery that reared off good length and banged into Crawley's gloves, leaving him out of position as he lost his bat, one just knew. It was only the sixth ball of Bumrah's opening burst.
Once the up-and-down behaviour of the pitch became evident, the openers decided to take their chances. Crawley had irked the Indian team enough the previous evening after his theatrics to avoid facing an extra over. Now, he was in the firing line. Bumrah softened him up. Even though he survived, it was going to be a matter of time. Nitish Reddy ultimately got Crawley (22) for the second time in the Test, this time getting him to play on the up to be lapped up by a second gully in Jaiswal, stationed just for that sort of a shot.
For Bumrah, it was a day to use his potency and accuracy – home in on good length and surprise them with the shooting ball pitched between 7.7m to 8.3m – to set up dismissals at the other end.
Bustling Siraj
It was time for Mohammed Siraj, the lion-hearted trier to get on the wickets column. Before Crawley's fall, Siraj took back new-ball duties from Akash Deep. Though he was operating from the Pavillion End from where he found less uneven bounce, he persevered and got Duckett (12) to play an attacking pull, which he holed out to mid-on.
The bowler went almighty close while celebrating on his face. It might cost him some of his match fee but by then India knew they would have to burn some cash anyway after the hostile end to Day 3. On a day both teams were pushing for victory, they weren't going to compromise on intensity.
Coming towards the end of his opening spell, Siraj's wobble seam delivery nipped back sharply off a length and rapped Ollie Pope's pad. He single-handedly convinced the captain to review, predicting that it wasn't too high. HawkEye showed the ball would have dismantled the bails and that's all it took to end the No.3's stay. England were three wickets down and another England batter, battling for his place, had proved a no show.
England's naturally aggressive players wanted to play their shots. To push India back, it is the only way they knew. For a while, it worked. Harry Brook, heir apparent to England's batting, collected two boundaries, ramp sweeping Akash Deep and following it up with a royal six over the bowler's head.
The next over, India had moved the fine leg finer. Brook went ahead and tried to repeat the dose, only to find his stumps disturbed as Akash Deep pushed it up fuller. A limited overs dismissal to a limited overs shot attempted in a Test that was on the edge.
At 98/4, England wouldn't have been able to savour their lunch. Things didn't get any easier. Siraj delivered an even better spell than he did with the new ball. Constantly working on Joe Root's technique, and that usually takes some doing, he almost worked him out lbw, bowling from an angle but narrowly missed to umpires' call on review.
That was around the time India's pacers were tiring.
Enter Washington Sundar. Shubman Gill had waited 39 overs before handing the ball to the off-spinning allrounder. Watching Washington's delightful spell (12.1-2-22-4), he would never take the ball away from India's surprise package of the day as he bowled all his victims to set up a thrilling final phase.