It has been two days and I am still unable to come out of the victory of the Indian cricket team at the Lord’s cricket ground. The victory is a very special one as it has come from the home of cricket, that too a day after the independence day. From being at a stage where only two results were anticipated – either an English win or a draw, India turned the game on its head, thanks to some tactical errors from England and some brilliant batting from the Indian lower order.
India, after losing the toss were put into bat on a cloudy day 1 where the pitch was giving some assistance to the fast bowlers. Rahul and Rohit neutralized the toss advantage for England and played out the initial session cautiously. Riding on Rahul’s 129, India got to a total of 364, with contributions from Rohit, Kohli, Pant and Jadeja.
I’ve been looking at (honors board) it every morning to see if they’ve put it up permanently
KL Rahul in the post match presentation
On the second day, the clouds moved away and the pitch was a much better one to bat on. England posted 391 riding on Joe Root’s 180* and contributions from Rory Burns, Buttler, Bairstow and Moeen. Things were getting heated up on the third day when India executed the short ball plan to James Anderson via Bumrah. James Anderson did not seem to like it at all and there were a lot of things said after that innings. In my opinion, there is nothing wrong in using the short ball and that may be a tactic of the opposition team.
The following day, India had a mini batting collapse as they were reduced to 55-3. But with the cautious and sensible batting of Pujara and Rahane. India ended that day at 181-6 with bad light eating up a few overs. India were in a spot of bother as the lead was only 154 with only Rishabh Pant being the recognized batsman.
Day 5 did not start well for India as they lost Pant early in the day and Ishant too did not last long. But later, when Bumrah walked in, the plans of the English team was a bit weird. They were not looking to get Bumrah out. Instead, they were keen on giving back the bouncers. Along with that a few words were exchanged too!
Jasprit Bumrah had more fielders on the boundary than Rishabh Pant. How can that happen?
Michael Vaughan on England’s tactics
All the sledges triggered Bumrah, in a positive way. He showed some high class batting techniques, along with Shami, who notched up a half century. The England team could have bowled the driving length early when Bumrah and Shami were new to the crease and had them out. But their tactic of bowling bouncers did not work and what happened was that both the lower order batsman got set. Later when they realized the mistake and tried to bowl the driving length, the ball was not as new and the batsmen too were set. They got runs at a decent pace and the English field setting helped them milk the easy singles. The lead was stretched to 271 and the Indian captain declared with Shami and Bumrah unbeaten. They gave themselves 60 overs to get England all out.
After declaring, India came out with some fire and attitude. They stuck in the very first over and from there wickets started to tumble for England. Mohammed Siraj, in particular was breathing fire and some of the English bowlers also got a taste of their own medicine – some sledging.
These 60 overs, they should feel like hell!
Virat Kohli in the team huddle
India managed to get England all out in 52 overs and won the game with 8 overs to spare. It was another instance where all 20 wickets were taken by the Indian pacers. England from being the favorites to win the test at the beginning of day 5, slumped to a defeat, reason being their nasty tactics that back fired. That was the story of how Indians conquered Lords in a dramatic way!
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KL Rahul in the post match presentation
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