Team India registered their third Test win at Lord's and first since 2014.
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The whole match was the entire Indian team contributing to the win however and whenever they could. Be it openers coming to the party, the tailenders contributing massively, and even out-of-form batsmen gritting it out in the middle, all led by an emotional and aggressive captain who trusts his players and their abilities.
As England crumbled in front of their home crowd at the Mecca of Cricket, Team COC looks at the 5 reasons why the Indian team won the second Test against England.
The 126-run opening stand between Rohit Sharma-KL Rahul in first innings
Virat Kohli lost yet another toss and Joe Root put India into bat first. The visitors needed a good start and that’s when Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul stepped up to the plate and added 126 runs for the first wicket in the first innings.
Rohit Sharma took on the England bowlers despite visibly curbing his attacking instincts, while KL Rahul dug in for a long haul. Both looked good for a century, but Rohit received a beauty of a delivery from James Anderson and was out for 83 runs in 145 balls with 11 fours and 1 six.
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KL Rahul continued on and was finally dismissed for 129 runs with 12 fours and 1 six in 250 balls. He waited for a loose opportunity to score and carried his good form from Nottingham Test in Lord’s as well. He became the first Indian batsman after Ajinkya Rahane to get on the Lord’s honors board.
Jasprit Bumrah bounces James Anderson and its aftermath
Bumrah pinged Anderson on the helmet the very first ball and from then on, it was Anderson being hit either in the ribs or on gloves or keeping deliveries from hitting his head.
There were some nasty things said by Anderson to Bumrah once the third day finished. However, the rivalry spilled into the Indian second innings when Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami were batting.
As soon as Bumrah walked out to bat, Root handed the ball to Mark Wood, who hit Bumrah twice on the head and then along with Ollie Robinson and Jos Buttler ganged up on the India pacer with verbal jibes.
However, the verbal war failed for England as the two bowlers batted with élan adding an invaluable 89 runs for the 9th wicket.
Gritty 100-run stand between Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane
In the second innings, India teetered at 55/3 when Rahane joined Pujara in the middle and the duo gritted it out for almost 300 balls, adding 100 runs for the 4th wicket. Pujara made 45 in 206 balls, while Rahane scored 61 in 146 balls.
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Both the senior pros had done their job of tiring the England bowlers and showed the batters that followed them that there were no demons in the pitch.
It eventually helped Bumrah and Shami to counter the England pacers in their now iconic unbeaten 89-run partnership which put India in driver’s position.
Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Shami frustrate England bowlers
England camp was dreaming of wrapping up the India innings quickly as Rishabh Pant and Ishant Sharma fell in quick succession. With the lead around just 180 runs, England fancied their chances of going 1-0 up in the series.
However captain Joe Root made a critical blunder of getting emotional and throwing the ball to Mark Wood and Ollie Robinson when Jasprit Bumrah walked out to bat and join Shami. England camp wanted revenge for Bumrah bouncing and hitting James Anderson.
Wood unleashed a couple of helmet pingers at Bumrah and then indulged in some nasty verbal war with both Bumrah and Shami. Both gave it back to the England camp who had enlisted Robinson and Buttler for the job of talking smack and even the umpires found it hard to contain the nastiness.
However, in the process, Root spread the field to take advantage of short bowling and the Indian tailenders made merry, as Shami hit 6 fours and 1 six, while Bumrah hit 3 fours in his innings.
Pacers help India register a historic victory at Lord’s
And this decision to play with four pacers proved to be game-changing for India in the end. In England’s first innings, only Joe Root with his 180*, Jonny Bairstow with his 57 stood out. There were small contributions from Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali as well.
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But Mohammad Siraj picked 4/94, removing the top three of the England lineup. Ishant Sharma took 3 wickets including that of dangerous Buttler and Ali.
Shami and Bumrah after their batting heroics removed both the England openers for duck and the amazing performance continued. Ishant Sharma struck gold as he removed Jonny Bairstow for 2 runs, while Bumrah handed India the big fish Joe Root for 33 runs.
Mohammed Siraj was on fire, as he removed Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali, and Sam Curran in quick succession to ensure India had the match in their pocket and made the entire thing sweeter by taking the final wicket of James Anderson to wrap up a historic win for India.