England vs India – 3rd Test
After an enthralling win at The Lord’s Cricket Ground, India was all set to face the England team for the 3rd test at Headingly and win 2 in a row. While we expected a good win and taking the series 2-0, England had other plans. They were charged up, determined to win and were ready to put their best foot forward.
The outcome at Lord’s was a bit unexpected because at Lord’s everything went India’s way. KL Rahul got a hundred. Mohammed Siraj was amongst wickets. Rahane made a steady fifty. For a change and to the surprise of many, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah had more valuable contribution with their bats rather than the cherry.
Going by the performances at the Lord’s, India decided to go with the same team combination while England made two changes bringing in Craig Overton and Dom Sibley in place of Mark Wood and Dawid Malan respectively.
At Headingly, it seemed like except for the toss, things headed in the wrong direction for the visitors. Let’s dive into a quick summary of the 3rd test !
The day started off well with India winning the toss and opting to bat first. The call did leave the fans in surprise as everyone expected Virat Kohli to bowl first. On day 1, India started off with an early wicket as KL Rahul was dismissed for 0 (4) in the very first over. While this wicket was yet being processed by the fans, Anderson strikes again in a short span to dismiss Pujara for 1 (9) and Virat Kohli for 7 (17).
The things that were common with these dismissals was James Anderson at the bowling end, batters edging it to the wicket keeper – Jos Buttler. The game had changed its course by the 11th over. India were 3 wickets down and it was on Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane to build a partnership to steady the ship for India.
It was interesting to see the England side putting India under pressure with their disciplined bowling, consistent attacking lines and energy on the field. It sure felt like they were under the pump and would not make it easy for the Indian batting line up to stand at the crease.
Soon enough, it was time to witness another collapse as Robinson took the charge. Rahane was dismissed for 18 (54) and Pant was dismissed for 2 (9). This time, the combination was Robinson-Jos Buttler as both the batters edged one to the Wicket keeper.
It was rather disappointing to see the Indian line up collapse in such a manner. While India was trying to steady the ship, England was coming in like a storm! In total, 5 dismissals were caught out involving Jos Buttler as the Wicket Keeper.
With 5 wickets gone, hopes on Rohit Sharma had started to rise but we were left hoping as Overton struck one dismissing Rohit Sharma for 19 (105), after he hit one straight to Robinson at mid-on. The fans were left shocked as the lower order collapsed majorly. Somewhere the fans believed in Bumrah and Shami to add to the total but Sam Curran and Overton did not seem to be in the mood to let them shine again. India was bundled out for 78!
Read the Scorecard : India vs England – 3rd test
England batters enjoyed their time in the middle on Day 1. There were fifties from openers Rory Burns (61 in 153) and Haseeb Hameed (68 in 195) before the end of day’s play! A rather shocking day 1 was over but an extremely challenging day 2 awaited.
The two fifties on Day 1 were later followed by a fifty from England No.3 Dawid Malan (70 in 128) on Day 2. As if the three fifties from the England’s top-three were not enough, they were followed by a rather quick hundred from Joe Root (121 in 165).
The England skipper scored his third hundred in the series, continuing his merry form. The hundred at Headingly was Root’s quickest century of the series. It felt like that Root was smelling a victory from afar and he was in a hurry to warp things up and level the series. Once Root got out, the remainder of England batters got out cheaply.
India had a hard time on the field with misfields, missing the wicket opportunities and Root being in the form of his life no matter how well the bowlers bowled, it was difficult to get through him. By the end of day 2 India managed to pick up 8 wickets but it came at the cost of England taking a lead of 345 runs. With 2 more wickets in hand, India had a job to do on the 3rd day – the turning day in Test cricket.
Day 3. The turning day. 2 wickets to take. Indian bowlers were ready to wrap things up soon! The led wicket takers for India in this match, Shami was right on the mark as her dismissed Overton for 32 (42) bringing the last better on crease i.e. Anderson. While most of us waited to see how the teams play with all that happened in the last game, Ollie Robinson was clean bowled by Bumrah, England had responded with a total of 432 to India’s 78 taking a lead of 354 runs in the first innings.
A deficit of 354 was a monumental task to overcome. On what seemed to be a great start to the day, the opening batters had a rather difficult task on hand. KL Rahul’s early dismissal led to a sense of fear in the fans after the first innings. On the other hand, Rohit Sharma’s fifty inspired some confidence.
And then, runs came from two unexpected sources, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara! Indian captain Virat Kohli, is a modern day great. Cheteshwar Pujara is almost impossible to be sent back to dressing room when he has eyes set in.
But the form of these two batters have been in was a cause of concern to cricket fans around the world. Pujara’s previous test hundred was at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2019 which helped India win the first Test series Down Under. Since then, the team has toured Australia once more and registered another series win in the country. Kohli’s previous Test ton was scored against Bangladesh at Kolkata in what was the first ever Day/Night Test match in India.
Since then, a deadly pandemic spread around the world, the economies around the world collapsed, people’s lives changed and the phrase ‘new-normal’ came into existence. That is how long it has been since the two batters reached their respective three-figure marks in Test match cricket!
Back to Headingly. Pujara and Kohli looked determined to put the poor run of form behind them and score tons. They build a strong partnership in the middle to take India through the 3rd day and keep the game in India’s favor a little.
At the end of day 3, India looked strong on their feet as they put up a total of 215-2 with a trail of 139 runs. The gritty partnership was also a peek into their mindset on the given day, how they adapted to the situation and the fans hoped for their individual milestones with a lot more passion in their eyes.
On day 4, a lot changed. The tides of the sea took turns. The storm was silently building, only if we knew! Pujara scored a gritty 91, Kohli looked committed in his knock of 55 and India hoped. But then Ollie Robinson, sent back the two batters in space of seven overs.
Once Pujara and Kohli were back in the hut, the hopes were crushed as Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, and others soon followed the two . They were dismissed easily, in a quick span of time and England recorded a comfortable win by an innings and 76 runs.
Root and Robinson were the front runners for the Player of the Match award. Often, it is the batter who clinches the awards in cricket, so it was good to see Robinson, who registered a 5-fer in the second innings. being announced as the Player of the Match for picking up seven wickets in total (both innings).
India, ranked No.2 and England ranked No.4 are two competitive teams in Test cricket. After a lopsided Test series in India earlier this year, the series in England is panning out to be a competitive one.
We have had three action packed Test matches and the series score line of 1-1 justifies the quality of cricket that has been played in the series so far. With two more matches to go, the series outcome can still go in either team’s favour. Over to Kennington Oval and Old Trafford from more drama and quality cricket.
~Prakhar Sachdeo (Guest Author), Urvi Shah (Author, Beyond the Matches)
Follow us on socials: Twitter: @beyondmatches || Facebook: Beyond the Matches || Instagram: @beyondthematches