Resuming from 58/4, England’s fast bowlers were right on the money as India were eight down when lunch break came. But Jadeja refused to buckle in hitting a gritty and magnificent 61 not out off 181 balls – his fourth successive half-century in Tests.
Despite him and the lower order giving it their all, India were so close yet so far to register a miraculous victory by being bowled out for 170 in 74.5 overs. For England, skipper Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer took three wickets each off bowling 24 and 16 overs respectively, while Brydon Carse had two scalps.
Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir, bowling with a left finger injury, had one wicket each, as England found a way via sheer relentlessness and absolute patience to win an incredible Test match on the day they won the ODI World Cup at Lord’s exactly six years ago.
England were put on course for a memorable win when Stokes and Archer picked three wickets, including of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul, in the first hour, before Woakes took out Nitish Kumar Reddy at the stroke of lunch.
Under cloudy skies, Pant began by whipping a poor delivery from Archer for four, before taking off his injured bottom hand four times while dealing with 140kmph and above pacy deliveries from the fast bowler, who constantly attacked the stumps.
After Pant creamed Archer for a one-handed drive through mid-on for four, the fast bowler bounced back by getting one to straighten past his outside edge and send the left-hander's off stump on a cartwheel ride to dismiss him for nine.
A tireless Stokes conjured up magic yet again when he got one to nip back in sharply and hit Rahul on the back pad. Despite the passionate appeal, the umpire gave it not out and Stokes got to turn the decision on review, as replays showed ball hitting top of stumps, leaving him and England jubilant.
Archer created another moment of brilliance by taking a one-handed catch to his right in his follow-through to dismiss Washington Sundar for a four-ball duck. From 82/7, Jadeja and Reddy rotated the strike while defending at every possibility to ensure India crossed 100-run mark in the 32nd over.
With the ball going soft, it helped Jadeja and Reddy to hang around, despite the former getting into a collision with Brydon Carse while going for two runs. Reddy finally got India its first boundary in 80 balls with a well-timed uppish drive going past diving cover for four, before inside edging just past his stumps for a streaky brace.
But at the stroke of lunch, Woakes found Reddy's outside edge via a short ball angled from wide of the crease and Jamie Smith took a simple catch behind the stumps to end a stubborn partnership, leaving England to pick just two wickets to win the match post lunch.
The second session began with Jadeja flicking Archer for four, hile Jasprit Bumrah was defiant in defence and pulled the pacer for another boundary. England brought in fielders closer to stop giving singles, even as Jadeja and Bumrah hanged around to delay the inevitable.
Jadeja got a life on 26 when Woakes trapped him lbw, but got saved as replays showed ball’s impact was outside the line of off stump. To rub salt on England’s wounds, Jadeja danced down the pitch to smack Woakes over deep mid-wicket for six. In the 49th over, Jadeja took a single on the fifth ball, before Bumrah blocked Carse on the last delivery.
From overs 50-54, Jadeja took a single on the fourth ball before Bumrah blocked out remaining two deliveries. Though the pattern was broken by a returning Bashir, Bumrah played out a maiden against a charged-up Stokes and even managed to eke out four leg byes off Bashir to get the deficit below 50.
Stokes’ 15-ball short-ball plan finally paid off when he enticed Bumrah to take on a wide short ball and substitute fielder Sam Cook caught the top-edge at mid-on to dismiss him for a 34-ball five. It also meant that a determined 35-run stand off 132 balls between Bumrah and Jadeja came to an end.
With tea break pushed back by 30 minutes, Jadeja brought up his fifty off 150 balls with a big flash over slips to get a boundary off Stokes, marking it with a muted celebration, before walking off the field for the break with an equally persistent Siraj, whoa admirably stood up to a short-ball barrage. They were met with applause from India’s fans, who believed they were very close to seeing a miraculous win.
Amidst palpable tension amongst every human being in the stadium, the final session started with Jadeja and Siraj scampering for singles amidst defending solidly to take India closer to victory.
With tea break pushed back by 30 minutes, Jadeja brought up his fifty off 150 balls with a big flash over slips to get a boundary off Stokes, marking it with a muted celebration, before walking off the field for the break with an equally persistent Siraj, whoa admirably stood up to a short-ball barrage. They were met with applause from India’s fans, who believed they were very close to seeing a miraculous win.
Also Read: LIVE Cricket ScoreBrief Scores: England 387 and 192 in 62.1 overs (Joe Root 40; Washington Sundar 4-22) beat India 387 and 170 in 74.5 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 61 not out, KL Rahul 39; Ben Stokes 3-48, Jofra Archer 3-55) by 22 runs
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