England roar back to set up thrilling finale at Lord's
Cricket - International Test Match Series - Third Test - England v India - Lord's Cricket Ground, London, Britain - July 13, 2025 England's Ben Stokes celebrates with Ben Duckett after taking the wicket of India's Akash Deep Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
LONDON - Fired-up England reduced India to 58-4 chasing 193 for victory in a highly-charged final session on day four of the third test at Lord's on Sunday.
England fast bowler Jofra Archer dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal for nought, Brydon Carse removed Karun Nair and Shubman Gill, and captain Ben Stokes bowled nightwatchman Akash Deep in the final over to set up a thrilling fifth day.
Indian opener KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 33 and the touring side need another 135 runs to go 2-1 up in the series after they had dominated the morning session at the home of cricket to move into a strong position.
With the pitch offering more assistance to the bowlers and variable bounce, England tried to bat positively but Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope and Harry Brook all fell cheaply.
Duckett played an audacious ramp shot to the boundary but two balls later he attempted to pull Mohammed Siraj through the leg side and was easily caught by Jasprit Bumrah at mid-on to depart for 12.
Siraj roared at Duckett as he walked back to the pavilion as the tension between the teams that flared up late on Saturday continued to simmer.
Pope never looked comfortable and was trapped lbw by Siraj for four after India successfully reviewed the umpire's initial decision of not out.
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Crawley, on 22, played a loose drive at Nitish Kumar Reddy and the ball flew straight to gully where Jaiswal took a simple catch to put England in trouble at 50-3.
Brook ramped Deep for consecutive fours before driving him over long-off for six, but the fast bowler quickly exacted revenge when he bowled the right-hander for 23 as he attempted a rash sweep to a straight full-pitched delivery.
PATIENT PARTNERSHIP
Joe Root, who scored 104 in the first innings, batted calmly, picking up mainly ones and twos as he and Stokes shared a patient partnership of 67 to revive England hopes.
But Root, on 40, was bowled behind his legs by Washington Sundar and the spinner bowled in-form Jamie Smith, for eight, to reduce the hosts to 175-6 at tea.
India wrapped up the innings early in the final session.
Stokes was bowled by Washington for 33 attempting a big hit, and Bumrah bowled Carse with a rapid yorker for one before clipping the top of Chris Woakes's off stump to dismiss him for 10.
Washington completed excellent figures of 4-22 when he took the final wicket of Shoaib Bashir.
Jaiswal skied Archer to wicketkeeper Smith with a wild swipe to give England early hope before Woakes dropped a simple chance to catch Rahul, on five, off his own bowling, and the opener responded by crashing the next two deliveries to the boundary.
Carse trapped Nair lbw for 14 with the batsman offering no stroke to a straight delivery, and Gill fell the same way for six after failing to get his dismissal overturned.
Deep survived two huge appeals before he was bowled by Stokes for one to the delight of the majority of the Lord's crowd. REUTERS
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