England’s bowlers set up a thrilling day five shootout at Lord’s as 14 wickets tumbled amid high drama at the home of cricket.
England were bowled out for a sub-par 192 on the fourth evening, a combination of relentless bowling and self-inflicted errors leaving India favourites to chase 193 at the change over.
But they responded brilliantly with ball in hand, sending the tourists in at 58 for four in an unmissable final hour.
Jofra Archer bounced out Yashasvi Jaiswal for a duck, Brydon Carse sawed off Karun Nair and Shubman Gill with a pair of lbws and Ben Stokes provided the perfect finale, smashing the stumps of nightwatchman Akash Deep with the last ball of the day.
Had Chris Woakes taken a caught and bowled to dismiss KL Rahul on five, England might even have had their noses in front.
The atmosphere inside the historic venue had reached fever pitch, Joe Root acting as cheerleader as he exhorted the crowd to roar the home side on, and Monday is already a sellout after fans snapped up the remaining tickets in anticipation of a classic finish.
Tensions were simmering nicely following the time-wasting row that erupted late on the third evening, India enraged by Zak Crawley’s go-slow antics that robbed them of a second over before stumps.
Crawley pulled every trick in the book to prevent Mohammed Siraj getting the ball in his hand and the seamer had clearly been stewing on the incident overnight.
When Ben Duckett swiped horribly across the line and lobbed a gentle catch to mid-on, Siraj rushed down the pitch with eyes bulging and barked in celebration just a yard from the left-hander’s face. Neither man took a backward step as Duckett made his way and the subsequent nudge of shoulders is likely to draw censure from the match referee.
By then there were already signs that the Lord’s pitch had come to life, with Bumrah’s sixth ball of the morning exploding violently at Crawley and knocking the bat from his hands as he took evasive action.
Conditions proved too much for Ollie Pope to bear, England’s number three’s only scoring shot coming with a thick edge over the slips. He was lbw to his 17th ball, Siraj dragging one back in on the seam to beat his defensive push.
Crawley’s travails were even more protracted, hitting fresh air more regularly than leather as Siraj and Bumrah worked him over relentlessly. He somehow survived their opening burst but missed his chance to turn a shaky start into something substantial.
Instead he walked headlong into a glaring trap, flashing a wayward drive at the gentler Nitish Kumar Reddy and picking out one of two gully catchers. Harry Brook joined Root at 50 for three and took the perilous position as his cue to embark on a counter-attack.
He raced to 22, twice scooping Deep for four over his shoulder and stroking a steepling six into the pavilion. But his exuberance came at a cost. In Deep’s second over he went low again, aiming for a pre-meditated sweep only to be bowled round his legs.
In an attempt to dominate the battle, the man currently ranked as the world’s number one batter, had floored himself. England badly needed something steelier and in their two most experienced performers they were able to find it.
Root and Stokes made partial repairs, chiselling out 67 runs in 128 deliveries as they stayed in place until the afternoon drinks break. It was never easy and never fluent, but both men showed the required determination to put the small defeats behind them and face up again.
They had almost shored things up at 154 for four but had not reckoned with Sundar. Selected as back-up to first-choice spinner Ravindra Jadeja, and ahead of the more dynamic Kuldeep Yadav, he justified Gill’s decision to throw him the ball at a crucial moment.
Twelve of his first 15 balls were dots, creating just enough frustration for Root to overcommit to a sweep to leave middle and leg exposed. Having bowled England’s best player of spin for 40, Sundar then nipped out their most in-form batter for just eight.
Jamie Smith has been in outstanding touch this summer but banked a rare failure as he misread a skidding delivery and lost his off stump. At tea, a Stokes miracle looked the only viable escape route, but it was not to be.
After grinding his way to 33 in two-and-a-quarter hours he tried to slog-sweep Sundar out of the ground and was cleaned up. Bumrah kept the stumps rattling as he sawed off Woakes and Carse, with Sundar removing Bashir to wrap the innings.
England had 18 to drag themselves back into the game and did exactly that. Archer hurried up Jaiswal as he top-edged a skier, Carse found wonderful rhythm in a hypnotic stint at the Pavilion End and Stokes found a familiar place in the spotlight as he pierced Deep’s defences with the last act of a gripping day.
