Washington Sundar put India in the best possible position to win the Lord’s Test with a four-wicket haul before batters stuttered to 58 for four at stumps on day four, chasing 193 on a rapidly deteriorating pitch on Sunday.
After the good work of the pacers, Washington made the ball talk with his off-spin, his timely strikes allowing India to skittle out England for 192 in the final session.
Mohammed Siraj made the difference in the morning before Jasprit Bumrah returned to polish the tail.
At stumps, India stuttered to 58 for four, having lost Yashasvi Jaiswal, Karun Nair, captain Shubman Gill and night watchman Akash Deep.
With the crowd egging on the home team in the last few overs, every ball was made into an event.
India gave England a taste of their own medicine, deliberately delaying the proceedings with K L Rahul (33 off 47) and Akash in the middle.
Ben Stokes castled Akash on what turned out to be the final ball of the day, setting up a thrilling finish on day five.
Jaiswal could not get into a position to pull a pacy short ball from Jofra Archer while Nair (14 off 33) could not convert his start once again and was trapped in front by Brydon Carse after misjudging the length and offering no shot. A relentless Carse then got the prized wicket of Gill, who was adjudged leg before off a sharp incoming delivery.
Carse had kept asking questions to Gill in that over and was duly rewarded.
Rahul would have been back in the hut too if he was not dropped by Chris Woakes off his own bowling.
Rahul’s cover driving has been impeccable this series and it was on display in the last hour of play against both Woakes and Archer.
Indian pacers generated awkward bounce from the Nursery End but their English counterparts, barring Stokes, were not able to extract the same before close of play.
After three days, nothing separated the two teams with India matching England’s first innings total of 387 but the latter put their nose ahead on Saturday.
In the afternoon session, Washington’s two timely strikes pegged England back, leaving them at 175 for six at tea.
Joe Root (40 off 96) and Stokes (27 batting off 83) applied themselves on a deteriorating pitch to frustrate India with a 67-run stand before Washington got the job done by removing the former and the dangerous Jamie Smith (8 off 14).
The Indian spinners finally got into the game with Ravindra Jadeja and Washington getting help from the surface.
After surviving a close DRS call for leg before wicket off Siraj, Root resorted to sweeping Washington but the ball crashed into his exposed stumps.
Smith departed soon after, paying the price for playing down the wrong line and losing his off-stump. The ball kept a tad low, contributing to the dismissal.
In the first two hours of play, Siraj made the ball talk on a crumbling pitch, reducing England to 98 for four at lunch.
After a drama filled last over on day three, the intensity remained high on the field with not much to separate both the teams at the start of day four.
Siraj, who thrives on a heated battle with the opposition batters, was fired up after removing Ben Duckett from the Pavillion End. He changed his line a shade to target the stumps and was rewarded with another wicket of Ollie Pope.
With the bowlers getting more assistance from Nursery End, Siraj bowled his heart out from down the hill. His spell of seven overs got him two wickets for just 11 runs.
Bumrah opened the bowling alongside Siraj and troubled Zak Crawley once again after the latter survived his fiery one over burst on Saturday.
The odd ball was jumping from length at the Nursery End, Bumrah got one to take off that hit Crawley’s bat handle, adding to the excitement at a packed Lord’s.
Gill replaced Bumrah with Nitish Reddy and following his two-wicket over in the first innings, the batting all-rounder got rid of Crawley for the second time in the match.
With wicket-keeper backing up, Reddy pitched one up and Crawley went for the drive only to be pouched at gully by Jaiswal, who was finally able to hold on to a catch.
With the ball doing enough from both ends, Harry Brook thought (23 off 19) attack was the best form of defense, picking Akash for two ramp shots before unleashing a six over mid-off.
However, Akash kept attacking the stumps in the following over and was rewarded when Brook missed a sweep to see his middle stump shattered.
