England openers, particularly Zak Crawley, had a rough start to the third Test against India at Lord’s, but they survived the wrath of Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohamed Siraj. Things were expected to get simpler against Nitish Reddy, who barely bowled in the second Test, but the all-rounder eventually claimed both their wickets in the 14th over, to put the hosts on the back foot.
Notably, in the third ball of the 14th over, Nitish bowled short, but it was clearly going down the leg. However, Duckett tried to pull that one for a boundary, but since there wasn’t enough pace on it, the 30-year-old failed to time it. The ball, eventually, brushed the gloves of Duckett before reaching Rishabh Pant. Umpire Paul Reiffel immediately raised his finger as Duckett departed for 23 runs.
Three balls later, Nitish sent Crawley packing. The 27-year-old had a rough time at Lord’s, as he was lucky on multiple occasions. Against Nitish, he failed to get going as the ball was nipping away and had good bounce, which Crawley failed to play. The ball brushed his gloves before going to the keeper. That ruined England’s start as the hosts were reduced to 45/2 in the middle.
How did the Lord’s surface play in first 20 overs?
After a humiliating 336-run defeat to India at Edgbaston, England captain Ben Stokes called for a lively surface at Lord’s. Everything went as planned, with plenty of grass visible on matchday 1. However, on the matchday, the grass was cropped. India captain Shubman Gill was not sure what to do on such a surface.
Meanwhile, the wicket has been sluggish in nature in the first 20 overs. Uneven bounce was noticed, and Nitish took advantage of that. The batting is likely to get easier as the match progresses, and the spinners might get some help on Days 4 and 5.
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