ISHANT SHARMA – 7/74, 2014
India had come into the Lord’s Test in England after having drawn the first Test of the five-match series in 2014. India had scored 295 runs in the 1st innings thanks to 103 from Ajinkya Rahane and stopped England at 319 with Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking the honors with 6/82.
India fared better in the second innings, making 342 with M Vijay making 95 and lower order in Jadeja (68) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (52) contributing big time. England was set a stiff target of 319 runs to win.
India had managed to pick 4 England wickets with 72 runs on the board, when Joe Root (66) and Moeen Ali (39) stitched up a partnership of 101 runs and frustration crept into the Indian camp. The ball had stopped swinging and batting seemed to have become easy.
This was when Indian captain MS Dhoni had a moment of genius and he asked his tallest and fastest bowler in Ishant Sharma to bounce out the England batsmen. Though Ishant hesitated initially, Dhoni kept persisting and finally, Ishant relented. The result was immediate, as Ishant bounced out Ali, who gloved a catch to short leg.
Then came a process of England wickets, who were hell-bent on pulling and hooking the bouncers from Ishant Sharma, despite Dhoni employing three fielders in the deep. Matt Prior (12), Ben Stokes (0), Stuart Broad (8) and Joe Root (66) were all out trying to hit or fend off the bouncers from Ishant.
Ishant ended up with figures of 7/74, the best bowling figures by an Indian bowler at Lord’s. England was bowled out for 223 and India won the match by 95 runs to take the lead of 1-0 in the Test series.
Ishant Sharma was also named the Man of the match for his spirited bowling performance.
