2nd Test, Day 5: India take lead in series with marvellous win in second Test. by Andy Jalil

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Ground:	Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood
Scorecard:	England v India
Event:	India in England 2014

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DateLine: 21st July 2014

 

By Andy Jalil at Lord's In association with INVESTEC

 

Andy Jalil at Lord's In association with INVESTEC cricketarchive.com, pcboard.com.pk © Andy Jalil

 

London – In one of the most rapacious spell of pace bowling performed at the HQ of cricket, Ishant Sharma blew away the England batting to lead India to a magnificent victory by 95 runs on the final day. It was only the second win for India at Lord’s following their triumph 28 years go and their sixth Test win in England since the first tour in 1932.

 

Although there were excellent individual performances throughout the match, it was truly a team effort to be proud of. India’s batsmen showed great determination to take up the challenge and fought back when early wickets fell on the first morning and the bowlers stood up to their task at times when England put together staunch partnerships that threatened to swing the balance away from the tourists.

 

A delighted India captain MS Dhoni said: “This is a very memorable win for us. Some of our players haven’t played that many Tests but their approach was fantastic. Overall looking at our batting department I think they did very well with the tail-enders contributing.” Speaking about some individuals Dhoni praised Ravendra Jadeja: “I think the more he plays he’ll grow in confidence, he’ll play a major role and it was a fantastic bowling effort from Ishant, he is tall and strong and works hard.”

 

England had a major batting task at the start of the day resuming of 105 for four and trailing by 213 runs. Certainly the first session of play belonged totally to England with Joe Root and Moeen Ali scoring 68 and just as importantly taking away time from India to claim the remaining wickets, until the last ball before lunch when Ali took his eye off a rising ball from Sharma to lob a catch to short square leg.

 

After lunch the game was snatched away from England with Sharma preying on England with precipitous bowling. Man of the match Sharma said later: “I give credit to our captain who told me to bowl bouncers.” He added: “When you play for your country you don’t need motivation.” That summed up the attitude of the India players.

 

The start of the second session rapidly saw England capitulate in a sudden flurry of wickets with Sharma taking four for nine in an inspired 21-ball spell. He had five wickets for 24 in 34 balls during the hour after lunch to end the England innings and his name goes up on the Lord’s honours board with 7 wickets for 74. He also became the first India bowler to take seven wickets in a Test innings in England.

 

England had progressed to 198 after lunch when Matt Prior hooked a bouncer from Sharma into the hands of deep mid-wicket. Following that two wickets fell on the score of 201 with Ben Stokes mistiming his pull to mid-on without scoring. Then came the big wicket of Joe Root, who on a defiant 66 over three-and-three-quarter-hours, fell into the leg side trap planned by Dhoni of three fielders placed for a catch and the batsman was held at backward square leg as he pulled a bouncer.

 

Four overs later, Stuart Broad was caught off his gloves unable to deal with a ball on the up from Sharma and that was 216 for nine. The last wicket went in a panic with James Anderson apparently anxious to avoid facing the bowling advanced for a risky run and couldn’t make his ground on being sent back as the direct hit to the stumps left him stranded. Ironically he was run out by Jadeja with whom he had a physical incident during the last Test and there is a pending ICC disciplinary hearing.

 

England captain Alastair Cook said: “I give a lot of credit to India who out-batted and out-bowled us. We didn’t take the opportunity to put enough runs on the board. It will take a lot of determination to turn this around.” He added: “All our performance has been with younger players, I have got to start scoring as well, I have the inner steel which I have to draw on. The recent past hasn’t been kind to me.”

 

(Article: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author only.
Copyright © 2014 Andy Jalil)