LONDON: India suffered a dramatic top-order slump to set up a thrilling finale to the third Test against England at Lord’s on Sunday.
The tourists had the upper hand after dismissing England for just 192 in their second innings, with off-spinner Washington Sundar taking 4-22, including the wickets of Joe Root, Jamie Smith and England captain Ben Stokes on the fourth day.
That left India needing 193 to go 2-1 up in this five-match series after both teams made 387 in their first innings.
India, however, collapsed to 58-4 at stumps, with the tourists requiring a further 135 runs to win on Monday’s final day.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was out for a duck, skying a hook off express fast bowler Jofra Archer to wicket-keeper Smith.
Karun Nair was lbw to Brydon Carse with India captain Shubman Gill, who has already scored a double hundred and two centuries this series, falling in similar fashion.
And in the last over of the day’s play, Stokes bowled nightwatchman Akash Deep to raucous cheers from the home crowd.
But India opener K.L. Rahul, fresh from his first-innings score of exactly 100, was still there on 33 not out following several typically elegant boundaries.
Earlier, Root and Stokes joined forces with England in trouble at 87-4.
But a partnership worth 67 ended when Root, who made a hundred in the first innings, was bowled behind his legs trying to sweep Sundar. Root’s 40 was the top score of England’s second innings.
Smith’s three previous scores this series had been 184 not out, 88 and 51, but he managed just eight before he was bowled by a Sundar delivery that kept a touch low.
Sundar, on an increasingly helpful pitch, had now taken 2-3 in 11 balls, with England 164-6.
All-rounder Stokes, without a Test hundred in over two years, showed plenty of discipline while batting throughout all of Sunday’s second session.
But, in common with several England team-mates, he gave his wicket away when on 33 the left-handed batsman was bowled for 33 swinging himself off his feet trying to slog Sundar.
Stokes banged his bat on the turf in anger, with England now 181-7.
Jasprit Bumrah, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, removed Carse and Chris Woakes with Sundar ending the innings when he knocked over last man Shoaib Bashir’s stumps.
England resumed on 2-0 with Zak Crawley, who had angered India late Saturday with his time-wasting tactics, alongside opening partner Ben Duckett.
Duckett scooped a four off Mohammed Siraj but the fast bowler soon had his revenge when the left-hander, cramped for room, miscued a pull to Bumrah at mid-on to leave England 22-1.
Siraj then risked disciplinary action after yelling in Duckett’s face, with both players in line to attract the attention of match referee Richie Richardson after making shoulder contact.
Crawley and Ollie Pope survived probing deliveries from Bumrah, who took 5-74 in England’s first innings after being rested from India’s win in the second Test at Edgbaston.
But it was Siraj who struck next when he had Pope lbw on review.
And 42-2 was soon transformed into 50-3.
Crawley (22) fell in all-too familiar fashion when edging a drive off Nitish Kumar Reddy to Jaiswal – one of two gullies posted by India in the hope of such a dismissal.
Unsurprisingly, given Saturday’s incident, Crawley received a verbal volley from Reddy as he left the field.
Harry Brook came in and struck three successive boundaries off Deep — two scooped fours followed by a thumping straight six over long-off.
But fast bowler Deep had the last laugh by bowling Brook for 23 as the world’s top-ranked Test batsman failed to make contact with an over-ambitious sweep.
SCOREBOARD
ENGLAND (1st Innings) 387 (J. Root 104, B. Carse 56, J. Smith 51; J. Bumrah 5-74)
INDIA (1st Innings) 387 (K.L. Rahul 100, R. Pant 74, R. Jadeja 72; C. Woakes 3-84)
ENGLAND (2nd Innings, overnight 2-0):
Z. Crawley c Jaiswal b Reddy 22
B. Duckett c Bumrah b Siraj 12
O. Pope lbw b Siraj 4
B. Stokes b Sundar 33
J. Root b Sundar 40
H. Brook b Deep 23
J. Smith b Sundar 8
C. Woakes b Bumrah 10
B. Carse b Bumrah 1
J. Archer not out 5
S. Bashir b Sundar 2
EXTRAS (B-25, LB-6, NB-1) 32
TOTAL (all out, 62.1 overs) 192
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-22 (Duckett), 2-42 (Pope), 3-50 (Crawley), 4-87 (Brook), 5-154 (Root), 6-164 (Smith), 7-181 (Stokes), 8-182 (Carse), 9-185 (Woakes)
BOWLING: Bumrah 16-3-38-2; Siraj 13-2-31-2; Reddy 5-1-20-1; Deep 8-2-30-1 (1nb); Jadeja 8-1-20-0; Sundar 12.1-2-22-4
INDIA (2nd Innings):
Y. Jaiswal c Smith b Archer 0
K.L. Rahul not out 33
K. Nair lbw Carse 14
S. Gill lbw Carse 6
A. Deep b Stokes 1
EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-1) 4
TOTAL (for four wickets, 17.4 overs) 58
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-5 (Jaiswal), 2-41 (Nair), 3-53 (Gill), 4-58 (Deep)
STILL TO BAT: R. Pant, N.K. Reddy, R. Jadeja, W. Sundar, J. Bumrah, M. Siraj
BOWLING: Woakes 5-2-11-0; Archer 4-0-18-1; Stokes 4.4-0-15-1 (1nb); Carse 4-1-11-2
Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2025
