Those lucky enough to be at Lord’s on Saturday were treated to another gripping day of Test cricket – and some proper England ‘housery’ in the final few minutes.
As Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett strode to the crease for the start of their side’s second innings, they knew they would face a maximum of two overs before stumps.
They were determined to make that just the one, with Crawley using some cheeky delaying tactics to ensure that was the case, antics that left India seething.
He backed away twice from Jasprit Bumrah’s third delivery, suggesting second time around that he had been distracted by something behind the seamer’s arm.
India captain Shubman Gill took umbrage at Crawley’s antics
Cue a look of bemusement/frustration from the bowler, an angry slip cordon, and an expletive-laden rant from India skipper Shubman Gill. Mohammed Siraj also had a chirp. He loves this sort of stuff.
But Crawley was not done yet. After defending Bumrah’s fourth ball, the England batter took off his glove, shook his ‘injured’ hand and gestured for the physio to come on.
Gill clapped sarcastically before exchanging heated words with Crawley and Duckett.
‘Zak will be assessed overnight…’
Then, after the final ball of the over whistled past Crawley’s outside edge, he was immediately off, presumably to get further treatment…
Crawley (left) called for the physio after facing a delivery from Jasprit Bumrah
“Zak will be assessed overnight and hopefully he will be alright to carry on tomorrow,” was England coaching consultant Tim Southee’s take, delivered in deadpan fashion.
“I’m not sure what India were complaining about with Gill lying down and getting a massage yesterday,” added Southee, referencing one of the multiple delays to have blighted this Test match so far, many of them due to both sides requesting ball changes.
But India’s complaining added to the theatre of a game set up beautifully by the sides scoring 387 apiece in the first innings – and a five-match series set up beautifully by India drawing level at 1-1 following last week’s thumping 336-run win at Edgbaston.
Two overs is a no-brainer with six minutes to go. But it was a bit of theatrics at the end. Everyone knows exactly what was going on but an opening batter will understand completely what happened in the last five minutes.
India opener KL Rahul on Zak Crawley
“Box-office stuff at Lord’s. A hot day got a little bit heated towards the end,” was Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain’s take.
Dinesh Karthik – who had chuckled his way through the feisty closing stages while on commentary – added: “Exactly what you want to see. The aggression, the passion, both teams wanting to win real bad and going hard at each other.”
But did anything cross the line? Not according to Michael Atherton.
“There was chit-chat but I didn’t mind that. It was a red-blooded contest and you have to give players a bit of leeway.
“I loved watching it and thought it was a fantastic end to a nip-and-tuck day. Brilliant drama, great theatre.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Watch highlights from day three of the third Test between England and India at Lord’s, which ended with the hosts leading by two runs
‘I think I would maybe prefer to be in India’s camp’
The day veered one way then the other, with Ben Stokes’ direct hit to run out Rishabh Pant on the stroke of lunch and then his scorching ball to remove Nitish Kumar Reddy giving England a lift and Ravindra Jadeja’s third straight fifty doing likewise for India.
Chris Woakes was denied the wicket of India tailender Akash Deep twice in three balls due to a successful lbw review from the tourists, with Deep then out to a screamer of a one-handed catch from Harry Brook at slip, off the bowling of Brydon Carse.
Jofra Archer lit up Lord’s again with his fastest spell for England in a Test, while Stokes bowled a lung-busting seven-over stint before seemingly being told to stop by head coach Brendon McCullum. Stokes did as he was told, if not what he wanted.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Chris Woakes twice had Akash Deep given out lbw on the field – and then twice saw the those dismissals overturned by DRS
Crawley’s outlandish time-wasting then capped things off. His two to deep fine leg off Bumrah means England have their noses in front heading into day four. Which side, though, will be happier?
Atherton added: “I think I would maybe prefer to be in India’s camp – because of the difficulty of batting in the third innings and because they have Bumrah and two spinners on a dry, wearing pitch.
“England have to see off the first hour [on Sunday] when Bumrah will come in hard. They can’t take liberties against him. If they get through that, they have batters to push the game on.
“A Test match can be a slow burner but then things can happen quickly.” Or indeed slowly when Crawley has his way.
Crawley may get a hostile welcome from India when he resumes his innings at Lord’s on Sunday
Watch day four of the third Test between England and India live on Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Main Event from 10.15am Sunday (11am first ball) or stream without a contract.
England vs India – results and schedule
All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all on Sky Sports
