14 wickets fall on penultimate day, game placed on a knife’s edge heading into Day 5

The final day of the third Test between India and England at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground in London couldn’t have been set up in a better way after 14 wickets fell on the eventful Day 4. India need 135 runs to win on Day 5, while England look for six wickets.

England started Day 4 at 2/0, with openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett at the crease. The latter was the first England batter to be dismissed as Mohammed Siraj gave India the important breakthrough. Ollie Pope couldn’t live up to his potential as the rampaging Siraj sent him packing.

Nitish Kumar Reddy came in as the first-change bowler, and he picked up the wicket of Crawley in his second over of the day. Harry Brook tried to take the attack to the Indian bowlers, resorting to a counter-attacking approach while batting. He hit Akash Deep for two fours and a six in one over. However, he went for one shot too many as the Bengal speedster cleaned him up in his following over. Brook attempted to hit a sweep shot, but he had shuffled too far across towards the off-stump and saw his middle stump being uprooted.

England lost four wickets for 87 runs and needed the experienced pair of Joe Root and Ben Stokes to form a partnership of substance to bail them out of the precarious situation. They rode their luck and added 67 runs off 128 balls before Washington Sundar bowled Root around his legs.

This was the start of a fantastic spell of bowling from the all-rounder as he got the ball to drift considerably and sent Jamie Smith and Ben Stokes packing. Jasprit Bumrah came back into the attack and picked up the wickets of Brydon Carse and Chris Woakes with two brilliant deliveries. Shoaib Bashir came out to bat with an injured hand and could only manage to last for nine balls as Sundar picked up the last wicket to finish with a four-for.

England were bowled out for 192, setting the tourists a 193-run target. Yashasvi Jaiswal was out to Jofra Archer yet again as he failed to open his account after facing seven balls. KL Rahul and Karun Nair steadied the ship before the latter’s error in judgement brought England back in the game. Nair shouldered arms to a delivery from Brydon Carse that came in with the angle and hit him on the pads. The umpire had no hesitation in lifting his finger, and the right-handed batter decided to make the long walk back to the pavilion without going for a review.

Shubman Gill came out to the middle and was given out by Paul Reiffel after England appealed for a caught behind. However, the Indian captain reviewed the call and survived. However, he wasn’t as lucky when Carse hit him on the pads on the last ball of the 15th over, adjacent to the stumps. Gill did go for the review, but it returned with three reds.

Akash Deep was sent in as the nightwatchman, and he successfully performed his primary job of shielding Rahul and the batters to follow. However, he was dismissed by Stokes with a pearler in the 18th over and it turned out to be the final delivery of the day. India finished on 58/4, with Rahul being unbeaten on 33 off 47 balls.

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