New Delhi: India’s hopes of winning the third Test at Lord’s are hanging by a thread after losing four wickets in the opening session of the fifth and final day. England bowlers put on a spirited display to dismiss three Indian batters in the first hour of the morning session to leave the away dressing room shellshocked.
Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Washington Sundar all returned to pavillion in the space of four overs in a frantic spell of play that left India reeling at 82 for 7. The triple blow brought Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Reddy to the crease, and the duo calmed the nerves of the Indian dressing room with a 30-run stand partnership, but the latter’s dismissal on the stroke of lunch left India reeling at 112 for 8 at Lunch, still 81 runs away from the 192-run target.
England two wickets away from incredible win
Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes were the chief destructors for the home side, sharing the three wickets to fall on Day 5. While Archer set the tone with a superb delivery to clean up half-fit Pant (9), Stokes orchestrated the downfall of Rahul (39), the set batter for the visitors. Sundar, promoted up the order above Sundar, didn’t trouble the scorers after being brilliantly caught by Archer off his own bowling.
Archer and Stokes bowled in tandem for 12.2 overs in the morning session, with the latter, whose fitness has been under the scanner, bowling an incredible 8.2 overs on the trot.
The England skipper bowled with a lot of heart and was deservedly rewarded when his sharp off-cutter trapped Rahul in front of the stumps. The on-field umpire shook his head in disagreement with the loud appeal, prompting England to take a review, which turned out to be a successful one after the replays showed three reds in the Hawkeye.
Sundar was the next batter to be dismissed for a duck before a dogged partnership between Reddy and Jadeja raised some hopes. However, those were dashed just before lunch when Chris Woakes dismissed Reddy for 13 to end a fantastic session for the home side.