The Lord’s Test between England and India is turning out to be an absorbing affair, with both teams having a realistic chance of staging a win and gaining a lead of 2-1 in the five-match series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
The morning session on Day 4 saw four England wickets falling with Mohammed Siraj being the main wrecker-in-chief. Siraj continued to maintain the pressure even in the second session. England captain Ben Stokes was struck by a Siraj delivery in the box, and as a result, he immediately went down in pain.
The incident happened on the final ball of the 29th over. Siraj darted the delivery from a length, and it didn’t bounce as much as Stokes expected. As a result, he was hit right on the box. The ball really kept low whilst coming in at pace.
Stokes went down in pain immediately. However, KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel went straight past him. Only Ravindra Jadeja, who walked close to the batter to enquire about his well-being.
You might be wondering, well, this is pretty normal. But let’s remind you about the Headingley Test, the series opener, where Rahul got hurt after being hit on the box by a delivery bowled by Stokes.
When Rahul was hit by the Stokes’ delivery, the England captain refrained from checking up on the batter, and he even mouthed some words towards the India opening batter.
Root, Stokes dig their heels in
After losing four wickets in the opening session of Day 4, Stokes and Joe Root dug their heels in to frustrate India and keep the visitors at bay. In the morning session, England lost the wickets of Ben Duckett (12), Ollie Pope (4), Zak Crawley (22) and Harry Brook (23).
Siraj was the pick of the Indian bowlers as he dismissed Duckett and Pope. On the other hand, Crawley was sent back to the hut by Nitish Kumar Reddy while Akash Deep rattled the stumps of Brook after the England batter went for a sweep shot.
Earlier, India and England both scored 387 runs in the first innings. England captain Stokes won the toss and opted to bat first. The Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy currently stands at 1-1.