Bowlers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj did the star turn as India defeated England by 151 runs in a fifth-day thriller in the second Test here on Monday registering their third-ever victory in 89 years at Lord’s, the Mecca of cricket.
Mohammed Shami (56 not out) and Jasprit Bumrah (34 not out) starred with the bat as they added unbeaten 89 runs for the ninth wicket to help India set England a challenging target of272 runs. Bumrah and Siraj then took over with the ball as India bowled out the hosts for 120 runs to seal a memorable victory and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
India’s first two wins at Lord’s came in 1986 and 2014.
Monday’s victory also made it a great year for India after brilliant wins at Sydney, Brisbane, and now Lord’s.
India put themselves on the threshold of victory in the second Test after reducing England to 67 for four at tea on the fifth and final day.
Though Jos Buttler (25) and Ollie Robinson (9) delayed the inevitable for some time before Bumrah came back to get Robinson out with a superb delivery that caught the batsman plumb in front.
Siraj then forced Buttler to knick a faint one to Rishab Pant to make it 120 for nine. He got James Anderson for a duck to seal the victory.
It was Bumrah and Shami who put India on the path to victory — first with the bat with an unbeaten 89 run stand for the ninth wicket and then with the ball as they got rid of the two openers. Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley. This was the first time that English openers had both fallen for a duck in a home Test.
No. 3 batsman Haseeb Hameed (9) added 42 for the third wicket before he fell leg-before to Ishant Sharma.
Bairstow (two off 24 balls) stuck around as Root dominated the 22-run partnership in 6.3 overs but Ishant Sharma again struck to keep India in.
But in the end, all that mattered was the way the Indians bowled and batted in the Test, coming up with a great performance when they needed it the most. If it was KL Rahul (129) who did it with a superb hundred and then the tail-enders came to the party and put India on course to victory.
Earlier, India expected Rishab Pant to help them set England a challenging target. But in the end, it was Bumrah and Shami that did that with a superb counter-attacking partnership for the ninth wicket that took the match away from England.
Brief scores:
India 364 and 298/8 decl in 109.3 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 61, Mohammed Shami 56 not out, Cheteshwar Pujara 45, Jasprit Bumrah 34 not out, Mark Wood 3/51, Ollie Robinson 2/45, Moeen Ali 2/84) vs England 391 and 120 all out in 51.3 overs (Joe Root 33; Siraj 4/32 Bumrah 3/33).
