(Cricket news) Team India registered an iconic victory in the 2nd Test match at Lord's by 151 runs. Indian bowlers put in a 4th innings masterclass to successfully get 10 wickets in less than 60 overs. England were well on top at the start of the day as India were 181 for 6 and leading by 154 runs with Rishabh Pant being the only recognised batsman.
Ollie Robinson got rid of Rishabh Pant early to give England a clear path to victory considering India's long tail but then the tail started wagging. England bowlers and Joe Root lost the plot with the tactics. When James Anderson came in to bat in England's first innings, he was hit on the body somewhat deliberately several times. It was pretty clear that England wanted revenge. The seamers started planting the ball short, aiming for the body of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohommed Shami. At one point Root had kept 4 men on the fence with no catching fielders which raised a lot of eyebrows. There were a couple of heated exchanges that charged up both Bumrah and Shami. Shami and Bumrah played quite a few elegant strokes to go with classic tailenders slogs.
Bumrah and Shami put together an 89 run partnership for the 9th wicket. India declared just a few minutes post lunch with Shami on 56 and Bumrah on 34. This gave England a mammoth target of 272 with India having exactly 60 overs to get 10 wickets. The hero's of the 3rd innings with the bat continued their fiery performance with the ball. Virat Kohli decided to open the bowling with Bumrah and Shami and it worked wonders. Bumrah picked up Rory Burns for a duck in the 1st over after he caught the leading edge straight to mid off while Shami produced the edge of Dom Sibley's bat in the 2nd over.
India kept the relentless pressure going with some fiery bowling by the four seamers and some verbal exchanges to go with it. Haseeb Hameed had some nervy moments including a dropped catch by Rohit Sharma off Mohammed Shami's bowling. Joe Root on the other end looked very comfortable and was getting boundaries together. Hameed's struggle ended when Ishant Sharma's in-swinger trapped him plum in front of middle stump. Ishant Sharma with all his experience got Jonny Bairstow's wicket on the last ball before tea.
India continued the momentum after tea as Bumrah picked up the priceless wicket of Joe Root. Root edged a ball outside off straight into the hands of Virat Kohli who was standing between 1st and 2nd slip. With England on the ropes at 65 for 5, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler steadied the ship and were playing purely for survival. Siraj's out-swingers produced the breakthrough as Moeen edged a ball towards the first slip. Siraj turned it up even more by getting Sam Curran in the next ball with a very identical delivery.
Jasprit Bumrah turned on his T20 mode to get rid of Ollie Robinson by going yorker, short ball and then a slow off cutter to trap Robinson plum in front. With victory within reach, Kohli brought back Siraj and the seamer got rid of Buttler and James Anderson in no time whatsoever. England's batting order apart from Joe Root once again failed to survive while Indian seamers got all 20 wickets in the match.
India repeated or maybe even bettered their Gabba heroics with a gritty day 5 display at the home of cricket. They have a massive chance to take the momentum into Headingley for the 3rd Test and try to win a Test series in England for the first time since 2007.
Player of the Day: Jasprit Bumrah
All four Indian fast bowlers bowled their hearts out but Jasprit Bumrah had just a little more fire in him today. He faced the music when he came out to bat at the start and got hit on the helmet a couple of times. Bumrah got his highest Test score of 34, hitting 3 boundaries in the process. He got India to a perfect start by getting the wicket of Rory Burns in the first over. Bumrah got the big fish Joe Root straight after tea to swing things massively in India's favour. When Robinson and Buttler looked set to survive, Bumrah again produced the breakthrough with a slow off cutter. Bumrah has already stamped his authority on this tour and with 3 Test's to go it can only get better for him and his team.
