India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja became the first player in 72 years to register a 50+ score in both innings of a Test match at Lord’s. He also became only the second Indian after Vinoo Mankad to achieve such a milestone. The number 1 ranked Test all-rounder played some phenomenal cricket in both innings of the Lord’s Test, scoring 72 and an unbeaten 61 runs, but unfortunately, the Shubman Gill-led side suffered a 22-run defeat.
Notably, the first innings ended on level terms as both England and India posted 387 runs on the board. The surface gradually got tougher for the batters, as the Ben Stokes-led side put only 192 runs in the second innings. Washington Sundar clinched a four-wicket haul for the visitors. Chasing 193 runs was expected to be tricky, but with India losing wickets at regular intervals, things got messy in the middle.
In the final hour of Day 4, India lost four wickets in the middle. Yashasvi Jaiswal departed while playing an aggressive brand of cricket, while Karun Nair and Gill failed to establish their authority in the middle. Akash Deep was sent as a night watchman, but on the last ball of the day, he fell prey to Stokes.
The tale of tailenders and Jadeja
With Rishabh Pant, Jadeja, Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy still to bat along with KL Rahul, India were expected to put up a tough fight, if not win it, but in reality, wickets fell like a house of cards.
After the visitors were reduced to 82.7, Reddy and Jadeja managed to stabilise the innings, but the prior departed for 13 runs and the entire pressure fell on the all-rounder. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are not known for their batting, but they showed valour as India were close to getting the job done, before an unfortunate dismissal ruined India’s chances.
In the 75th over, Siraj managed to defend the ball of Shoaib Bashir, but to his horror, it rolled back and hit the stumps to dislodge the bail. Siraj and Jadeja stood there in pain as England players later consolidated and congratulated them for the effort.