Jasprit Bumrah versus Jofra Archer promised fireworks and on a glorious July day at a sun kissed home of cricket the contest lived up to the hype.
Electricity crackled in the air, as Archer and Bumrah captivated 30,000 people to set up another tense Test between these tightly matched teams.
First Bumrah, with his five-wicket haul and entry on the Lord’s honours board, and then Archer letting out the emotion of four years of injury hell as he celebrated a wicket with his third ball, produced unforgettable, pinch yourself moments that separate the elite from the rest.
Edged… And carried!
JOFRA IS BACK! 🌪️ pic.twitter.com/xr0hgYtP72
The match itself is moving at a slower pace than the first two Tests but is not without intrigue with the game evenly poised. For all the fireworks from the quicks, it was Chris Woakes with keeper Jamie Smith stood up to the stumps, who may have delivered a crucial moment – Shubman Gill cut down caught behind for 16.
India, at 145 for three in reply to England’s decent return of 387 all out, are in the game with the coolness under pressure of KL Rahul, who is 53, and a watchful Rishabh Pant censuring calmness after the loss of Gill.
Full report to follow
It’s going to have the nature of old school about it [the scoring rate] because of the pitch. There is no pace, it’s turgid but there is lateral movement. I’ve never been on 99 overnight and I woke up in the night and couldn’t get back to sleep, thinking about the shots I could have played [to get there] and the ways I could get out but then I thought don’t make it about yourself. It was a good ball [that got him] but you pride yourself on covering that angle. It was really disappointing [not to kick on from 104] but I thought Smithy and particularly Carsey played well.
There is genuine excitement to see Jofra back in Test cricket. The noise, the pure joy seeing him back in whites.The atmosphere was [incredible]. He has the X-factor. Great to see him being so impactful. I’m not saying he’s as good as Bumrah but it’s great to have him and use him like that. As soon as Shubman Gill came in we could throw the ball to Jofra and he kept his pace high throughout.
That ball is so out of shape visibly and it will be interesting to see if we could get a harder one that can go off the surface. Unless they take risks they will find it hard to score quickly. We have to be smart and let the natural conditions, the slope, work in your favour.
England lead by 242 runs. Pretty even, England possibly slightly ahead having dismissed Jaiswal and Gill for peanuts but Pant, his injured hand notwithstanding, has played largely sensibly and is well set while Rahul is a very fine player. But only the all-rounders to come and if England could knock over one of these two and Jadeja cheaply, they would be buzzing tomorrow morning.
A terrific day and a great Test in store. But another 15 overs lost to day. That is bizarre to reflect on as we look at the ground basked in glorious sunshine. Perhaps the problem is less over rates than the amount of time allocated for play.
Pant delays the last over just to ensure it is the last over on some spurious pretext. It’s all in the game. After blocking the first two he forces a single off the off-break, working it against the gentle turn behind the square leg umpire. Stokes, at silly mid-on, is being strafed by ladybirds again, waving them out of his face as Rahul shows us the maker’s name to defend the last three.
Kumar Sangakkara says he is in the camp of not bothering so much about the over rate so long as they are played with appropriate intensity, saying he would settle for 75 overs should the not include landfill overs by part-timers merely to get up to the prescribed minimum. The heat and the poor state of the Dukes balls are also issues.
Rahul is playing for the morning now, leaving a short one and defending the next three, the last of them called no-ball… eventually. And the extra ball from Carse is another no-ball, Rahul withdrawing the bat with a Steve Smith flourish. One more over to come tonight.
Bashir comes round the wicket to Pant who blocks or nudges the first three but then chops a cut for two up the lope to the Grand Stand. His hand is hurting him, taking the left off the bat after each stroke. They said yesterday that his finger waasn’t broken but that he had split his nail.
This is only the 71st over of the day. You lose two for change of innings so we are currently 17 short.
Carse replaces Woakes, who took the vital wicket of Gill during a good seven-over spell. I wondered whether Rahul might protect Pant, given Carse’s unpleasant bounce, but he takes a quick single to mid-off third ball.
No matter. Carse’s first ball to Pant is off line and deflects for a leg-bye. Rahul ends the over by threading a drive for two.
Rahul guides Bashir for a single to reach an exemplary half-century from 97 balls. A DVD of his batting in this series should be sent to ever young Test opener in the world. Send it to the older ones too.
Pant plays his trademark rollover sweep for a couple, but then he wrings his hand in pain after what looked a routine defensive stroke. At the end of the over the physio comes on to give Pant some treatment.
The over-rate today is as bad as I can remember in an England Test. The scheduled close of play was 15 minutes ago; there have been 68.3 overs (+2 for the change of innings).
A surprise short ball from Woakes is uppercut deliberately for four by Rahul, who is playing with the same unobtrusive brilliance as Joe Root yesterday. A single to mid-off moves him to within one of a richly deserved fifty.
Pant is treating Shoaib Bashir with a touch of disdain. He slams a cut past backward point for four, then mows a slog-sweep to cow corner for another.
I’m surprised we haven’t seen Brydon Carse bowl at Pant, particularly in view of his finger injury.
Woakes moves around the wicket to Pant, bowling very straight with Smith standing up the stumps for balls and moving back for others. A good delivery beats Pant on the inside, one of five successive dot balls. Woakes has been more like himself in the last few overs.
Pant’s first boundary is a ferocious sweep for four off Bashir. That’s a cracking shot.
Meanwhile, an excellent bit of analysis on Sky sports show that Woakes moved wider on the crease to bowl the ball that dismissed Gill. That subtle change of angle has done for a few quality batsmen in this series, including Joe Root in the second innings of Edgbaston.
Rishabh Pant comes out of at No5 despite his finger injury. No early signs of him flinching when the ball hits the bat.
Gill c Smith b Woakes 16 Huge wicket. Huge wicket. Chris Woakes has picked up Shubman Gill, caught superbly up to the stumps by Jamie Smith. Gill pushed defensively at a delivery that straightened fractionally to took the edge. Smith did the rest, although those catches are never easy.
That’s Gill’s first failure of the series, and a wicket that will give Woakes so much confidence after his poor start. FOW: 107/3
Chris Woakes takes the BIG wicket of Shubman Gill 💥 pic.twitter.com/TNnunIs6pj
Shoaib Bashir comes on for the first time in the innings. Jofra Archer has bowled two five-over spells, although the second included a change of ends halfway through. He starts with a maiden to Rahul, in which there’s nothing of note to report.
The over-rate is particularly atrocious today. Even with the extra half hour we’re unlikely to get 80 overs never mind 90.
Gill drives Woakes delightfully down the ground for four, just to the right of the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Jamie Smith is standing up to the stumps to keep Gill in his crease.
Woakes’ hands go to his head when Gill defends an off-cutter at the last minute; had ht missed that he’d have been plumb LBW.
Rahul, hurried slightly by an Archer bouncer, hooks round the corner for a single. Many batsmen would have got in trouble there; not Rahul, not in this form.
Out of nothing, Gill jumps back and tries to slap an Archer bumper over the off side. He doesn’t time it and the ball dribbles into the off side. He pulls the next ball over square leg for a single, the kind of well-controlled shot that gives the crowd false hope by virtue of the ball being in the air.
Rahul Dravid brings up India’s hundred by skipping down and slapping two off Woakes through cover. They also run a bye when Smith tips a legside delivery round the post. Bashir is getting loose. There is so much to like about Bashir but thought Root was underbowled at Edgbaston.
Jofra gets the bouncer up from the Nursery End but it takes off and easily clears Gill’s helmet. The India captain thinks about hooking but discretion takes hold. That was the effort ball but as ever with Archer looked slick and effortless. Gill’s front-foot defence is impeccable as ever until the final ball of the over which squirts off an inside edge. Shots of people in the crowd tucking into ice creams, Pimm’s and the dreaded 4 per cent swill.
Gill’s soft hands pardon the edge when he pushes forward and the ball hits the ground wide of second slip and rattles down for four. You’d think he’d have a wet fish handshake so liquid are his wrists when playing the ball behind square on the offside but when he cuts they turn into tungsten.
Time for drinks. What’s yours?
Archer switches ends to take the Nursery End, the end from which he bowled the Super Over six years ago. Not as much bounce and Gill takes on the short one without any fear, flipping two off his hip and then whips a single off his toes behind square. His pace for that over was down in the mid-80s. Jofra removes a large white hankie to mop his brow at the end of the over. It’s still 32C at Lord’s.
Gill steers a single and a two off Woakes’ comeback over square and then whisks the straighter one past midwicket for four. Woakes is struggling here. Can he come back or is it Jason Gillespie 2005 all over again?
Flicking another two off his pads, Rahul is tucking in whenever Woakes strays outside the corridor.
Ben Stokes gives himself another over, a sixth in the spell. ‘He can feel a wicket,’ says Stuart Broad. Gill defends the first three. He has been rock solid with his blocking in four innings in the series so far. Because Gill uses his front foot so effectively to shut the gate, Stokes thinks he could be a leg-before candidate but he hasn’t managed to sneak one past that mile-wide blade so far.
Gill ends the over with two forward defensives.
Archer’s second spell is curtailed at two and Chris Woakes replaces him at the Pavilion End.
Gill flirts with pulling the bouncer but decides to let it by at the last moment. He defends a couple and then swivels to pull for a single and immediately asks for a drink. He’s been out there for 16 minutes.
The price of creating the optical illusion for Stokes is that sometimes the ball is sprayed on to the right-hander’s pads. If it wasn’t he would never gull them with the ones that straighten. Rahul RSVPs the invitation to whisk it off his legs and does so for four behind square.
The end of the over is an exercise in keeping Rahul down that end so Archer can have a burst at Gill, a mission Stokes accomplishes with a fourth-stump line, once nearly squaring Rahul up.
Archer extracts surprising bounce from a good length at 89mph and Rahul, up on his toes, reacts well, dropping his hands to keep it down. It looked awkward but effective. When he goes short, as he does three times, Rahul easily limbos beneath the ball before it smacks into Smith’s gloves. England want him bowling at Gill but he starts with a maiden. Gill’s bad back, for which he has received regular treatment that has cots us several overs has not yet restricted his movement while batting. But then again eh hasn’t had a 92mph bumper around his hooter yet.
That was not just his record-breaking catch, it was probably Joe Root’s best slip catch.
Stokes and his golden arm from the Nursery End, artfully using the slope to deceive Nair. Wicket maiden.
Enter Gill and that’s the cue for Archer to be brought back for his second spell.
And that’s Root’s 211th catch as an outfielder. What a way to break Rahul Dravid’s record.
211 – Joe Root
210 – Rahul Dravid
205 – Mahela Jayawardene
200 – Steve Smith
200 – Jacques Kallis
Nair c Root b Stokes 40 Blinding catch, low to his left. Seemed to see it late while going the other way but still managed to launched off his right foot, swoop and jam his fingers under the ball. Stokes again with that deceptive angle. Batsmen think because he almost falls over to the left that he is sliding the ball across but he isn’t, nipping it back off a good length. FOW 74/1
What a CATCH from Joe Root! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/O2NdcCt0lB
For fair catch by Root at first slip off Nair. It looked good but very low one-handed.
Nair threads a clip between short mid-on and short midwicket for three, lovely transference of his weight into the ball. Rahul trumps him for style with an off-drive off Carse for two. All a bit too full until Carse tries a couple of back of a length ones but with predictable bounce, Rahul blocks.
He may be breaching 87mph but Ben Stokes’ good length ball on off is still smeared with lordly grace through extra-cover for four by Rahul. These two are a joy to watch on the front foot. I’m surprised theey haven;t gone for the short stuff. They usually do but seem to be persevering with an orthodox strategy for now.
Stokes’ nip-backer did get Rahul’s feet tangled up but it did far too much to warrant a review.
He didn’t hit it and it was heading over leg stump. Stokes was persuaded to review by Root and left it late. Anyway… two reviews left for the bowling side.
Rahul lbw Stokes Also checking for a catch in case he nicked it. But I don’t think he hit it and it was angling down.
Nair drives uppishly through vacant gully for four. England have three slips but no one squarer, opting to have a sillyish mid-on instead, Woakes standing a metre on front of the non-striker.
Archer is given the runaround. He runs to the left, he runs to the right at midwicket to cut off Nair’s legside clips, both of which earn him two runs.
Now Stokes brings up a gully. Did Nair drive there because there was no fielder there or drive there because he couldn’t help himself?
Another tidy over from Stokes angling it in to the right-handers. Legside strangles are always possible because of his natural trajectory and arm height. Rahul has a fiddle at one that skids across him and past his hip then almost drags on when Stokes pitches up on a fourth-stump line. Rahul clips a single off his toes and Nair cover drives for three. England have a lengthy conflab at the end of the over. Perfect timing with 41 overs to go. Perhaps it was Pope’s call because last night he said one of his duties as vice-captain would be to stop Stokes bowling himself into the ground. He’s bowled only two overs so far, though.
Rahul closes the face to claw a single to mid-on’s right and hares a tight single. I think he lost his bottom-hand grip there. Carse bowls one of those fabled ‘heavy balls’. Stokes posts himself at silly-mid-off for Nair but isn’t in the game when Carse pushes the ball wider on a fifth-stump line and Nair nails the drive for four through point.
When Nair gets his feet in a knot pushing at one that straightens to him, someone, Brook or Stokes, shouts, ‘Oh s—!’ when the ball pops up to silly mid-on.
Carse ends the over almost sawing Nair in half, nipping it back through the gate and whistling past off-stump.
Stokes is running in gamely. No hint of last night’s discomfort. And the game’s great modern autobiographical scriptwriter was, with the help of the umpire, the hero of his own improbable tale once again with a wicket in his first over of the match. But DRS edited it out.
Nair, troubled by the short stuff, drives like a champion and stylishly elongates a defensive stroke to lace three through mid-off. Carse will come down the hill from the Pavilion End.
Strangled but overturned on review when Nair immediately sent it upstairs. It hit the thigh pad.
Nair c Smith b Stokes
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Archer with a wicket with his third ball in his comeback Test was a pinch yourself moment but as far as the Test match is concerned, it is in the balance. Archer bowled as if he had been running in from the Pavilion End every day for the last four years, and the crowd were transfixed, sensing the moment.
Chris Woakes was wayward and the worry will be the limitations of the rest of the attack will be exposed on a flat pitch. KL Rahul has been Mr Cool, Karun Nair looked comfortable until the ball is pitched shorter, into his ribs.
So, after four and a half years, Jofra returns with a wicket in his first over back in Test cricket. If the lump is still in your throat, or of you want to experience it again, here’s Aggers’ take:
"Sometimes sport throws up these wonderful scripts. You can't write them. But some people write them themselves."
Jofra Archer took just three balls to take a wicket on his return to the England Test team.
What a moment! pic.twitter.com/tm5mpBjNPx
India trail by 343 runs with nine wickets in hand.
The afternoon session will be remembered for one magical moment: Jofra Archer dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal with his third ball after four and a half years away from Test cricket. You can close the book on champagne moment of this match.
The euphoria of Jofra Archer’s early wicket could easily have sparked a mini-collapse, but the two batters have calmly quietened everything down. It’s not easy, as is again demonstrated when Woakes beats Rahul with the last ball of the session. Beautifully bowled.
That’s tea.
Close! Carse gets one to burst from a length and hit Karun Nair on the hand. The ball loops up on the off side but falls well short of the cover fielders.
Nair needs treatment, which means the next over will be the last of the session. Carse looks a particularly horrible bowler to face on a pitch that is slightly up and down.
Woakes switches ends to replace Archer, who return to Test cricket with a bang in a spell of 5-1-16-1. He starts with his best over of the innings so far, an accurate full-length maiden to Rahul.
Time for two, maybe three more overs before tea.
England will hope that Carse, like Mitchell Johnson back in the day, bowls even better after scoring important runs. A sharp, aggressive over includes a trampoling leg-cutter that beats Nair. On reflection Nair played it pretty well; many players would have jabbed at that and edged or gloved it.
The best thing about this spell from Archer for England was not just the wicket third ball but that after four years out of Test cricket he has bowled as if he has never been away. His five overs so far have been on the money with good rhythm, pace and accuracy.
Archer is given a fifth over, surely the last one of his spell. Nair chips in the air but safely through mid-on for a single. England have a lot of catchers – three slips, gully, leg gully – so there are singles to be had in front of square. Rahul takes another and Nair is solid for the rest of the over.
Archer’s average speed in that spell is just shy of 90mph, which is pretty remarkable – we might have expected a top speed of 91-92mph and an average of 86.
Brydon Carse replaces Woakes, who bowled an expensive spell of 4-0-23-0. There were some jaffas in there but also more loose stuff than usual.
Carse, all arms and legs, hits a full length from the start and beats Karun Nair with a lovely delivery. Two from the over.
Archer beats Nair with an absolute peach that swings in, climbs off a good length and zips away as the No 3 bat holds his hands in line. All that at 90mph. You don’t make a triple Test century, though, without a huge amount of class and when Archer pitches up but the ball stays gun-barrel straight, Nair creams an off-drive, a harder stroke than a cover drive, for four.
Archer’s nip-backer hits Nair on the glove and goes in the air 5ft to the left of Stokes at leg gully for four. Stokes moves finer, almost to second leg slip and Nair ends the over driving again, square and for two.
Woakes’ long lay-off hs severely affected his rhythm. He’s running in gamely enough but can’t find a consistent length. He starts with another pie, lathered in gravy, short on middle and leg and Rahul flips it off his hip for four.
After cursing himself he finds a better line and length, finding the edge but Rahul expertly guides it down with nimble hands, steering it to third slip on the third bounce.
One more for Jofra. Let’s not break him, like Root and Silverwood did in New Zealand.
The great thing about that video of Archer celebrating is Bashir’s reaction. Regrettably it involves a pun – he was bashful at first and then gets really into it, giving it a second wind when Jofra’s roar – which must have felt like an exorcism – relented.
KL takes a middle-stump guard, sensibly, given how close Jofra gets to the stumps. Rahul weaves out of the road of the legside bouncer and then gets down the other end pushing at one with soft hands outside off, stroking it to cover. Archer treats Nair to another perfume ball, which he ducks, to push him back, then goes fuller, looking for tentative footwork and hence the eddge but Nair plays it well, driving it through point for two.
Chris Woakes has a peerless record at Lord’s, but right now his overs feel like filler while we wait for Archer to resume his spell. Rahul flirts with a good delivery outside off stump before leaving at the last minute.
KL Rahul steals a quick single, the only run from another superb Archer over. We sometimes forget, because he can be so explosive, just how accurate and skilful he is. His control of line has been immaculate.
Archer and Lord’s are a magical combination. As a moment, that was up there with the Smith duel and the World Cup final super over. Archer ran towards Shoaib Bashir when he took his wicket and then waved the ball towards someone in the Mound Stand, which is where the players’ families are sitting. It was a rousing reception from the Lord’s crowd.
Archer is a shy man in public and did not know how to react when he was cheered at Edgbaston last week, just for delivering some drinks as 12th man. “He absolutely loved it. He had no idea what to do. He went around once, and went back round again,” said Stokes before this Test.
Archer’s wicket has changed the mood, never mind the scoreboard, and Woakes beats Karun Nair with two lovely deliveries during a much better second over.
JOFRA ARCHER IS BACK! 😍
In the first over of his return to Test cricket he takes the wicket of Jaiswal ⚡️- pic.twitter.com/sx363Aw5UA
A wicket maiden from Archer, whose speed reached 93mph with his first ball to Karun Nair – the quickest delivery of the series so far.
At the end of the over he receives a standing ovation from the crowd. If you’re not moved by this, you should seek urgent medical assistance.
Jaiswal c Brook b Archer 13 A spine-tingling moment at Lord’s: Jofra Archer has struck third ball! It was a fabulous delivery to Jaiswal, on a length at 89mph and jagging away off the seam. Jaiswal fiddled instinctively and was smartly caught at second slip.
Archer charged off in celebration, roaring with a mixture of delight and catharsis. Every mundane, soul-sapping bit of rehab over the last four and a half years; every setback, every piercing moment of self-doubt… they were worth it for that moment. It almost brings a tear to the eye. In fact, forget the almost. FOW: 13/1
A bruising start for Chris Woakes, whose opening over disappears for 13. The first ball – short, wide, very loose – was panelled through the covers for four by Jaiswal, who then took boundaries to third man and through square leg.
And then a cheer erupts as the crowd realises that Jofra Archer will take the new ball. Four and a half years he’s waited.
Michael Atherton said that 375 was par earlier so England, in their third longest innings for more than three years under Baz-Bob-Ben, have scraped above it by virtue of fine knocks from Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse and, just as importantly, have put 112 overs into the legs of India’s fielders in one and half days of airless 32C heat.
Carse b Siraj 56 Walks across his stumps to try to flick it fine for four and misses. The ball crashes into middle and off about a third of the way up. Two balls earlier Siraj had tried the bouncer that went over Carse’s shoulder, beat Jurel and went for five wides.
The replay shows that the stroke that brought up Carse’s fifty actually sailed for six, not four so two runs will be added to the score.
Deep replaces Bumrah and Bashir starts the over fishing and flashing and ends it blocking and leaving.
A maiden though the score goes up by two runs because the umpire’s mis-signal in the previous over has been corrected.
Bumrah is on the Lord’s honours board, something that Warne, Ambrose, Lillee and Wasim failed to achieve. Murali also missed out. The most famous batsmen not on there? Tendulkar, Ponting and Kohli.
Carse tees off and cloths a mow to deep midwicket. Deep runs round, loses the swirling ball in the stumps, dives and doesn’t even make it into the same postcode as the ball. They run two. The Durham quick then makes his maiden Test fifty by picking the slower ball and clumping it straight for four. They move Deep from midwicket to cover and he makes a mess of his throw when Carse thumps a drive to his left. Bashir is no gazelle but Deep throws to Carse’s end as they came back for two.
Carse has another wipe at a drive and nicks it high to the keeper’s right and Jurel tips it over the bar. He should have caught that and Siraj drops to his haunches. They run a single and then Bashir gets off the mark with an inside-edge down to fine leg. Carse, looking for a single to take the strike, is thwarted by Siraj hiding it outside off T20 style with a tramline painting yorker.
Carse, keen to accelerate given who he’s stuck with, has a big yahoo while two strides down to Bumrah but the ball misses bat and off-stump. Carse crouches back to drill a single to mid-on and then Bumrah bags his fifth.
While the new batsman walks out, Shubman Gill calls on the physio and wastes another five minutes having treatment. Get him off. The players are ridiculous in the liberties they take with time but the umpires are to blame, too. They shoudl have told him to go off. Even Ravi Shastri agrees.
Bashir defends his first and third balls and has a swing at the bouncer but misses. There was a single on offer from his last stroke that squirted through square leg but Carse wanted the strike and sent him back.
And then he wags his finger at Siraj. What a man he is. It’s not that he barely bothers to celebrate. It’s that he’s saying, ‘Well, what did you expect?’ It’s confidence rather than arrogance.
Archer b Bumrah 4 Another one clean bowled by the maestro. Bumrah has his five-for. Get out the gold paint. Archer was castled by the nip-backer that went like an off-cutter. Kept low, too. FOW 370/9
FIFER for Jasprit Bumrah! 🌟 pic.twitter.com/6jtk09TuBY
What a performance from Jasprit Bumrah. All four of his wickets today have been clean bowled. And Bumrah is on the honours board.
Siraj deserved that wicket in his previous over. He is a competitor, in your face, heart on sleeve, a smile or a scowl never far away, living the emotion of every delivery. And he’s flipping good, too. He could have had Jofra Archer twice in this over but he survives by the skin of his teeth after being squared up and left groping at one that angled in and jagged away and by the nip-backer a couple of balls later that hits him on the thigh, far too high to persuade the umpire’s finger to pop up.
Carse drives Bumrah or attempts to, flashing his hands through the line of a wide one and nicks it wide of the slips down to third man for four. Four more come when he chisels out Bumrah’s leg-stump yorker and nutmegs himself for a boundary to third man. That takes him to 42*, a Test high for him and he adds two more off the thick edge, poking another drive to the left of the cover point sweeper.
Jofra Archer receives a huge ovation when he walks to the crease, at the scene of his Test debut six years ago. The promise of Jofra’s batting was always better than the reality for someone who seems to have such good technique but he gets off the mark with a boundary inadvertently when trying to withdraw the bat but doing so late enough to deflect it past second slip for four. He beams at that.
A warm reception for Jofra Archer at Lord's as he makes his return to Test cricket 👏 pic.twitter.com/kotnsKOewN
Smith c sub (Jurel) b Siraj 51 Justice for Siraj who had Smith dropped by KL early on. Now he induces the edge when Smith tries to force it off the back foot. It was short enough but wider than he thought and he could only nick off. FOW 355/8
Breakthrough for India after lunch! 💪
Jamie Smith's fine innings comes to an end 👏 pic.twitter.com/suJwSiW351
Carse, who is a very handy No9, he can play in orthodox fashion solidly and can tonk it like the best of the white-ball biffers, defends and leaves judiciously and gets up the other end off the nip-backer that comes off his thighpad. Bumrah’s ability to alter the trajectory from ostensibly the same point on the crease is his superpower, almost as if he has double-jointed elbows and wrists.
And Jasprit Bumrah will bowl the 106th over, and needs one more wicket to become the 15th India bowler on the honours board at HQ.
This is the 39th Test since Ben Stokes became full-time captain in May 2022 and in that time they have batted 72 times. This is already their fifth longest innings and if they can prolong it by 17 balls, it will be the third longest. And their critics say they are too arrogant to adapt…
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Arguably England’s session despite the Jasprit Bumrah fireworks in the first 50 minutes. Jamie Smith is digging his team out of a hole at 271/7 and found a useful ally in Brydon Carse, has shown why he has two first-class hundreds. Smith was dropped on five at slip by KL Rahul but since then has looked in control as the pitch and the ball have gone to sleep.
Bumrah will have a burst after lunch, and restarting has been a problem for England throughout the Test. England are past 350, another 50 will be very useful with batting likely to become a much riskier business. All eyes on Jofra Archer but Shoaib Bashir has got a lot to prove in this game. He will bowl, for once, with rough to work with.
Another innings, another Test fifty for Jamie Smith. He drives Reddy majestically through extra cover for four to move to 49, then flicks a single to reach his sixth half-century, this one from only 52 balls. A penny for the thoughts of KL Rahul, who dropped Smith in the slips on 5.
The last ball of the morning wobbles late and hits the sub keeper Dhruv Jurel on the fingers. He’s in a bit of pain and may need treatment during the lunch break.
Only 22 overs were bowled this morning but surely nobody will feel short-changed. The crowd saw 102 runs and three wickets, all to Jasprit Bumrah is a devastating opening spell. Smith and Brydon Carse fought back with a cool-headed partnership of 82.
A wide half-volley from Bumrah is lasered square for four by Carse, who moves into the thirties. This has been a superb innings; we know he can score runs but while he often just has a swing, he has tried to construct this innings like a proper batter.
A quiet over from Deep. Jasprit Bumrah is warming up with a view to bowling one over before lunch. That’s a bit of a new tactic, but it makes sense. He doesn’t bowl looseners so a one-over spell is fine. And who would you least like to face so close to a break?
Reddy beats Smith with a delicious outswinger, not dissimilar to the ball that did for Zak Crawley yesterday, then takes a very thick edge with an outswinging yorker to the same player. Lovely bowling.
It feels like Smith has been relatively becalmed in the last half hour. The scorecard – 41 from 43 balls – suggests otherwise.
Carse suddenly charges down the pitch to lift Deep high over the leg side. The ball plugs near cow corner and they take two runs.
Four byes down the leg side – the ball swung so late that not even Jurel could stop it – are followed by a terrific push-drive to the cover boundary by Carse. He’s batting ever so well.
Nitish Kumar Reddy replaces Jadeja, another sign that India think this ball will offer more for their quick bowlers. The extra hardness also increases England’s run-scoring potential, and Carse reaches to slam a cut for four. That brings up a vital, level-headed fifty partnership from 72 balls.
Another ball change. I know it’s Wimbledon season but this is getting silly. India seem happy with this ball, the fifth or six of the innings (I’ve lost count).
Jadeja bowled well yesterday and he’s been right on the money so far. A slip and silly point after waiting for any offerings from the bat of Carse, who for now is playing solidly. He has two first-class centuries, a fact you’ve probably read more than a dozen times since he came into the England time.
Deep does change ends to replace Siraj. Carse walks down the track and is beaten by a beautiful legcutter.
Carse and even Smith are starting to cloth a few shots, more evidence that the replacement ball isn’t behaving at it might after 17 overs.
Woakes needs to pick up wickets at his favourite venue. His returns with the bat in the series so far: 38, 5, 7 and a first-baller today. He is averaging 12.5 with the bat, 96.66 with the ball.
Ravindra Jadeja replaces Akash Deep, who bowled only one over and will presumably change ends. India need a quiet over and Jadeja provides it; just the one run.
A compelling first hour, which has put India in the ascendancy. Will Jamie Smith be left stranded with the tail? As I argued after the second Test, I’m not sure that England are good enough to have a player of his quality at number seven. The difference with Adam Gilchrist, who generally stayed at number 7, is the quality of Australia’s top six.
Four singles from Siraj’s over. India are going to turn to spin, a sensible move given how unhappy their seamers are with the replacement ball.
Nasser Hussain discusses India's ball change this morning 🔎🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/LF7r9f7Y64
Bumrah, who is one wicket away from achieving his ambition of getting on the Lord’s honours board, has a break after a devastating spell of 5-1-23-3. Akash Deep takes over and concedes five from his first over.
After a blistering first hour, it’s time for drinks.
Bumrah, who is one wicket away from achieving his ambition of getting on the Lord’s honours board, has a break after a devastating spell of 5-1-23-3. Akash Deep takes over and concedes five from his first over.
After a blistering first hour – 11 runs, 53 runs, three wickets – it’s time for drinks.
Smith takes a pair of twos off Siraj to move England past 300. Carse is almost undone by a beauty that jags back to brush something before being marvellously caught down the leg side by Jurel. How good is he behind the stumps? India appeal but it’s given not out and they decide against a review.
Replays confirm that the noise was bat on thigh pad rather than inside edge.
Smith clips Bumrah wide of midwicket for his fifth boundary. He’s looking dangerous, and India’s concern will be exacerbated by the fact he was dropped on five by KL Rahul.
They still aren’t happy with the replacement ball. The commentators are speculating that there may not have been a replacement ball that is only 11 overs old, simply because you don’t usually need a ball change at that stage. The one India have been given looks older and sounds softer off the bat.
This spell by Jasprit Bumrah only confirms my belief that he is the best fast bowler ever. No bowler, of any kind, has had such a wide range of angles from which to deliver, thanks to his freakish action. He is equally effective against righthanders and lefthanders, and from over the wicket and round the wicket – remember that fast bowlers, before a decade ago, seldom if ever bowled round the wicket.
His wrist-work and finger-work were demonstrated by his dismissal of Harry Brook on day one: there was the tiniest, almost imperceptible difference between his grip for the inswinger which castled Brook and the previous ball which went straight on, but it made all the difference when bowling the world number one.
This morning Bumrah could have had Joe Root caught first ball by a second gully. He has gone through the gate and hit the top of Ben Stokes’s offstump, and bowled Root with one that jagged up the hill via an inside edge. Or put it this way, Jofra Archer will have to go some to match up.
The ball has been changed but India are really unhappy, with Shubman Gill unusually animated as he chats to the umpire Sharfuddoula.
Siraj’s beans are going too – well, it is a weekday – and Smith works a poor delivery to fine leg for four more. Siraj gone for 26 in three overs this morning.
After the first Test, Scyld Berry – who has probably seen more Test cricket than anyone alive – ranked the 30 greatest fast bowlers in Test history. Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose, Imran Khan, Dennis Lillee… they were all behind you-know-who.
1. Jasprit Bumrah
46 Tests, 210 wickets at 20, and a wicket every 42 balls
Deserves to be recognised as the finest Test fast bowler, and the finest white-ball fast bowler, there has been. Nobody has delivered the ball closer to the batsman since the front-foot no-ball was introduced, thanks to his extended right elbow. By anecdotal evidence, no pace bowler has ever been so difficult to read as he flicks his fingers in addition to the snap of his wrist; and by statistical evidence he is unsurpassed too, as the only Test bowler of any kind to have taken more than 200 wickets at an average below 20 (19.60). And one more stat: he averages 17 in Australia and India. Bumrah has raised the bar as the all-format fast bowler.
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Smith larrups another emphatic cut for four off Siraj. Then there’s a break in play while the ball is changed yet again, this time after only 10.4 overs.
A rare piece of filth from Bumrah is lashed through point for four by Carse. He’s a pretty good No9, who averages 19 in his fledgling Test career; he pushes three more and then Smith is beaten by another outrageous snorter that just misses off stump.
The one positive of this Bumrah spell from England’s perspective is that he has threatened the stumps more than the outside edge. Jofra Archer, a wicket-to-wicket specialist, should bowl really well on this pitch.
A defensive shot from Smith off Sirah bounces back towards the stumps. Smith tries to kick the ball, misses and is relieved to see it drop past the stumps. A frustrated Siraj walks down and swaps the bails.
The new Sky commentators Stuart Broad and Mike Atherton concur that the pitch has quickened up today.
The hat-trick is full, straight and defended solidly by Brydon Carse.
A double-wicket maiden for Bumrah, who has taken 3/1 in 11 balls.
Woakes c sub b Bumrah 0 Jasprit Bumrah is on a hat-trick! Chris Woakes felt for his first delivery, a big outswinger, and got a thin edge through to the sub keeper Dhruv Juvel. It was given not out but India eventually reviewed and there was a little spike on UltraEdge. This guy is the dictionary definion of genius. FOW: 271/7
Root b Bumrah 104 He’s done it again! Jasprit Bumrah is astonishing. He barely celebrates wickets any more, so familiar is he with his own brilliance. It was another sharp nipbacker, which this time took the inside edge and deflected onto the stumps.
Root has fallen to Bumrah for the 11th time in Tests. But on a pitch that isn’t the easiest for batting, that could be a priceless innings. FOW: 271/6
Jasprit Bumrah strikes again 💪
Joe Root departs for 104 and England are six down 🏴 pic.twitter.com/2z7INClIMc
Jamie Smith vs Bumrah and Siraj with a hard new ball: one way or another, this won’t be a dull passage of play. And the excitement has started already. Smith square drives uppishly for four and is then dropped by KL Rahul at second slip. It was an awkward chance, which came at an inbetween height as Smith tried to force a lifting delivery, but that could be a big moment. It was on this ground that England dropped Adam Gilchrist, the ultimate counter-attacking No7, three of four times in 2001.
The Sky commentators think the pitch has quickened up today. Smith lends weight to that theory with a belting cut for four to finish the over.
Jamie Smith, the new batter, gets off the mark with a single to deep square.
Stokes b Bumrah 44 Ben Stokes falls to yet Jasprit Bumrah’s latest jaffa. Stokes had slapped the previous ball emphatically for four; Bumrah took his medicine and responded with a glorious delivery from round the wicket that jagged back through the gate and hit the top of off.
“The off stump goes for a toss!” screams Ravi Shastri on commentary. Sometimes an all-time-great bowler is just too good. FOW: 260/5
Beauty from Bumrah 😍
Ben Stokes is removed early on Day Two ❌ pic.twitter.com/TAR2K5NSRU
Big run-out chance for India! Stokes drives Siraj towards mid-off, thinks he’s found the gap and sets off for a single. Wrong! Jaiswal picks up on the run and gets the throw away despite being hopelessly off balance. It flashes just past the stumps with Stokes not even in the frame.
Root reaches his hundred first ball of the day with a poke outside off stump that Ollie Pope would have been proud of. Lucky that it flew wide of gully for four. Well played, Joe, he deserved his luck.. A 37th Test hundred for Root and eighth at Lord’s.
It took just one ball for Joe Root to reach three figures. It was a bit of a streaky shot, an edge between slip and gully for four off Bumrah, but he won’t care. He roars with delight before taking off his helmet and lifting his bat to acknowledge the applause.
It’s a glorious day at Lord’s, in excess of 30 degrees. For now, the most important is Joe Root’s score: 99 not out. He’ll face the first ball form Jasprit Bumrah.
Joe Root is one run away from a 37th Test century, which would move him to fifth outright on the all-time list. He is setting records for English Test batting that will surely never be beaten.
Andrew Strauss on the meaning of Red for Ruth day 🔴 pic.twitter.com/xNfJhXHleq
“It’s Crawley’s last chance,” one fan muttered on the train to Lord’s for the third Test. His friend knew better. “You’ve said that five times before,” he replied.
You suspect the second fan was right: Crawley’s England career will surely extend beyond the third Test against India. Yet, unwittingly, his performance on the first day at Lord’s made a compelling case that England should consider whether Crawley remains their opener.
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Ben Stokes has bowled on the outfield this morning after suffering a groin injury in the final session of day one and according to those who witnessed his run through he looked fine. England will badly need him. Jofra Archer is playing his first Test in four years, Brydon Carse has looked weary as has Chris Woakes and India will try and smash Shoaib Bashir out the attack forcing Stokes to either bowl himself or one of his other seamers.
Ben Stokes suffered a worrying groin injury while batting late on the opening day at Lord’s.
Stokes suffered the injury leaving a ball from the Indian medium-pacer Nitish Kumar Reddy in the evening session, and received considerable medical attention from England’s physio Ben Davies. He made it to stumps on 39 not out, his highest score of the summer, but struggled to run between the wickets at any pace, which contributed to Joe Root being stranded on 99 not out overnight.
An England spokesman refused to confirm the nature of the injury, but said Stokes would be assessed in the morning, and would not be going for a scan. The injury comes at an awkward time, with England three matches into a 10-Test run that concludes with the Ashes Down Under this winter.
“Your guess is as good as mine, but he looked pretty sore out there,” said the vice-captain Ollie Pope. “I’ve not seen him. Fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious, and that he can do something magic and come back strong.”
Read more…
Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live, over-by-over coverage of the second day of the third Test between England and India at Lord’s. The first day was compelling, a subtle arm-wrestle in sharp contrast to the usual Bazball slugfests.
England finished on 251/4, with the immaculate Joe Root on 99 and an injured Ben Stokes alongside him on 39. Stokes batted on despite sustaining a groin injury that will surely impact his ability to bowl later in the game.
Our team are in place at Lord’s and we’ll be hearing from them throughout the day, starting with Scyld Berry.
Greetings from Lord’s, although you might think it is Ahmedabad to judge by the temperature and the pitch, which is playing into the hands of India’s two spinners.
There are always some cricket phrases in vogue. “He’ll take that” for example. When have you ever seen a batsman, after nicking a boundary, running over to the scorer and saying “please don’t add that four to my score” ?
Or when this same batsman – say it is a tailender batting against Jimmy Anderson – edges another four, and as steam comes out of Anderson’s ears the commentator cheerily announces: “He won’t mind that!”
Now we are blessed with the phrase “It’s moving day”, usually applied to day three. Well, day one was a non-moving day in that neither side was ahead at the end of it any more than at the start. England restrained themselves, and the slow dry turf restrained them, in addition to India’s patient bowlers.
It was too hot to move, you might say, and it might be the same today… but eventually something will crack.
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