The possibility of a tough loss hung over Shubman Gill and the Indian team after they lost four wickets in the first session of Day 5 in the third Test against England at Lord’s. India stared the day needing 135 runs with six wickets in hand, but that target seemed huge by the end of the first session.
Then, Ravindra Jadeja tried to save the match. Despite his best effort and the lower order’s support, India fell short of a win, getting bowled out for 170 in 74.5 overs. For England, Captain Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer each took three wickets in 24 and 16 overs, respectively, while Brydon Carse claimed two.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar felt the batters’ failure to form partnerships hurt the team. A 60-70 run partnership would have made a difference. India couldn’t get that. Jadeja could have avoided risky aerial shots when Joe Root and Shoaib Bashir were bowling. But credit to him, Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.
England was set up for a memorable win when Stokes and Archer grabbed three wickets, including those of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, in the first hour. Then, Woakes dismissed Nitish Kumar Reddy just before lunch.
Under cloudy skies, Pant started by hitting a bad ball from Archer for four. He then took his injured bottom hand off the bat four times while facing fast deliveries from Archer, who consistently targeted the stumps.
After Pant powerfully drove Archer for four, Archer responded by straightening one past Pant’s outside edge, sending his off stump flying to dismiss him for nine.
Stokes produced another moment of brilliance when he got one to sharply nip back in and hit Rahul on the back pad. Despite the umpire’s initial not-out decision, Stokes got the call overturned after a review showed the ball hitting the top of the stumps, leading to celebrations for him and England.
Archer then made a great one-handed catch to his right in his follow-through to dismiss Washington Sundar for a four-ball duck. From 82/7, Jadeja and Reddy focused on rotating the strike and defending to ensure India passed 100 runs in the 32nd over.
With the ball softening, it helped Jadeja and Reddy to stay at the crease, even after Jadeja collided with Brydon Carse while running for two runs. Reddy finally hit India’s first boundary in 80 balls with a well-timed shot for four.
However, just before lunch, Woakes found Reddy’s outside edge with a short ball, and Jamie Smith took a simple catch behind the stumps, leaving England with just two wickets needed to win the match after lunch.