India script historic victory at Lord’s after day 5 heroics

After the heroics in Sydney and the miracle at the Gabba, India have pulled off another stunning overseas victory in 2021 with their dramatic turnaround on Day 5 to win the 2nd Test match against England at Lord’s. Powered by an excellent 89-run partnership between Mohammad Shami (56) & Jasprit Bumrah (34), and a phenomenal bowling display from the seamers, India pulled off a stunning comeback on Day 5 to win by 151 runs and go 1-0 up in the series.

The beauty of the 2nd Test at Lord’s has been the ebb and flow nature of the game, and Day 5 continued in that trend with the fate of the match swinging by the hour with the roar of the crowd and the tension in the middle adding to the intense atmosphere.

England started the day on top with the crucial wicket of Rishabh Pant at a point when India only led by 167 runs. Ishant Sharma fell 15 runs later, as England were on the brink of victory with only two tail-enders left to remove. However, only an hour later, India climbed into the ascendency after one of the most bizarre periods of play from England, which allowed Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah to build a crucial partnership to save the game. Rather than bowl traditional Test match lengths and target top of off, England and Root opted for a short-ball tactic against the Indian pair with the field spread out.

The strategy backfired with India taking 105 runs in the session as Mohammad Shami reached his 2nd Test half-century. The declaration eventually came from Virat Kohli after Lunch with India needing 60 overs to bowl England out with the hosts requiring 272 to win.

After their heroics with the bat, Bumrah and Shami followed it up with the ball as they both dismissed an England opener each for nought in their very first over of the innings. Burns was squared up by Bumrah and his leading edge was caught by Siraj at short extra cover while Sibley didn’t even wait for the umpire’s decision after edging behind to Mohammad Shami.

Haseeb Hameed survived a pair but didn’t last too long either in the middle after being trapped on the pads by Ishant Sharma. Jonny Bairstow was another England batter who fell victim to an Ishant Sharma inswinger as the Indian seamer dismissed the Yorkshireman on the last ball before Tea.

Joe Root top-scored for England with 33, but his resistance finally ended right after the break with Jasprit Bumrah drawing the edge and Virat Kohli making no mistake at first slip to leave England reeling at 67-5.

Moeen Ali stuck around with Jos Buttler for an hour, but none of the England batters had answers for Mohammed Siraj, who ran through their lower order – picking up four of the final five wickets. Siraj removed both left-handers – Ali and Curran – off consecutive deliveries, while Bumrah ended Robinson’s vigil at the crease with an excellent disguised slower ball.

Siraj returned to finish the job from the other end, finally getting Jos Buttler to poke at one outside off-stump before uprooting James Anderson’s off-stump three balls later to send the entire Indian team into delirium and cap off a famous victory for the Men in Blue at the home of cricket.