ENG vs IND 3rd Test Day 4: Sundar helps India sink England further

England were going safe by the first hour of the post-lunch session before Sundar's double strike put them on the back foot

The Indian cricket team got themselves the upper hand on Day 4 of the third Test against England at Lord’s after the second session. England have lost six wickets for 175 and most of their batsmen are back in the pavilion. Skipper Stokes is the last hope for England if they want a big total in the third innings.

 

The second session of the day started with Root and Stokes taking things ahead with composure and luck. India bowled beautifully, especially Bumrah, who kept creating wicket opportunities, but the English pair kept escaping by whiskers. At one point, India took a review which would have resulted in Root being back in the pavilion, but the umpire’s call went in the batter’s favour as England avoided any damage. The duo completed their fifty partnership as India’s hunt for the fifth wicket continued. 

 

However, just when everything seemed to be going good for England, in came Washington Sundar, who first removed Joe Root on 40 before also dismissing Jamie Smith on 8, as England’s lower order was finally exposed. The session ended with English skipper Ben Stokes (27 not out) still at the crease with Chris Woakes (8 not out), as England will try to take their lead above 250 before either declaring or getting bundled out.

 

Earlier, in the first session, England started steady but soon began to deal in boundaries. However, in just the fourth over of the day, Siraj removed Ben Duckett (12) to give India their first breakthrough. The home team tried to rebuild the innings with careful shots, but it was once again Siraj who trapped Ollie Pope (4) in front of the wicket as England lost two wickets within the first hour of day’s play.

 

India continued the onslaught after the drinks break as Nitish Kumar Reddy struck to remove Zak Crawley on 22, as England lost their top three with just 50 on the board. However, England looked in no mood to back down as Harry Brook took up England’s custom Bazball game early in the innings and scored two fours and a six off Akash Deep in the 20th over. But the pacer got his revenge very soon and clean bowled Harry Brook (23) as England lost their fourth wicket before even putting 100 on the board.

 

England scorecard at tea day 4:

 

England 2nd Inning
175-6 (52 ov) CRR:3.37
Batter	Dismissal	R	B	4s	6s	SR
Zak Crawley	c Y Jaiswal b N K Reddy	22	49	3	0	44.9
Ben Duckett	c J Bumrah b M Siraj	12	12	1	0	100
Ollie Pope	lbw b M Siraj	4	17	1	0	23.53
Joe Root	b W Sundar	40	96	1	0	41.67
Harry Brook	b A Deep	23	19	4	1	121.05
Ben Stokes (C)	Not out	27	83	2	0	32.53
Jamie Smith (WK)	b W Sundar	8	14	0	0	57.14
Chris Woakes	Not out	8	23	1	0	34.78
Extras	31 (b 25, Ib 5, w 0, nb 1, p 0)
Total	175 (6 wkts, 52 Ov)
Bowler	O	M	R	W	NB	ECO
Jasprit Bumrah	11	2	31	0	0	2.82
Mohammed Siraj	13	2	31	2	0	2.38
Nitish Kumar Reddy	5	1	20	1	0	4
Akash Deep	8	2	30	1	1	3.75
Ravindra Jadeja	8	1	20	0	0	2.5
Washington Sundar	7	2	13	2	0	1.86