The over rate was pathetic and the heat oppressive yet every spectator in Lord’s was transfixed. Nothing stirs the senses quite like high-quality pace bowling and so it proved here, be it the latest five-wicket display of Jasprit Bumrah’s mastery in the morning or Jofra Archer striking third ball on his comeback.
Archer first, and a moment that will live long in the memory for both the player and his supporters in the stands. As India closed on 145 for three in reply to 387 all out, his figures read a tidy one for 22 from 10 overs. And yet the numbers told only part of the story, with that solitary wicket, one that stopped everyone in their tracks and triggered an eruption of noise around NW8, unquestionably the moment of the day.
Context is everything, with Archer’s pristine removal of the dangerous Yashasvi Jaiswal – a ball that nipped, squared up the left-hander, and flew to second slip – delivered after a four-year battle with injuries. Other fast bowlers might have opted for white-ball specialism but Archer, now 30, never gave up on his Test dream.
Mobbed by teammates on the ground that witnessed his electric debut six years ago, those long dark days of rehab proved to be worth it. Granted, the speeds that saw 93mph breached during his initial new ball burst tailed off. But with his skills undimmed and his bouncer still menacing, this was a promising return.
As for the Test match as a whole – pivotal as it is at one-all in the series – it was hard not to view England as the team in the ascendancy. KL Rahul walked off at the close unbeaten on 53, with the injured Rishabh Pant on 19 not out. But having lost two more wickets on this attritional surface, and one of them being the form-rich Shubman Gill, India were the side in need of a fightback.
Perhaps the wonderfully organised Rahul can deliver an innings to match that of Root, who turned his overnight 99 into 104 and followed it with a spectacular one-handed slip catch to remove Karun Nair for 40. As well as easing concerns about Ben Stokes after a groin niggle on day one, this breakthrough from England’s captain had given Root his 211th outfield catch, breaking the record held by Rahul Dravid.
Just as jaw-dropping was the removal of Gill for 16. Archer had been drafted in to solve the puzzle Gill has presented England this series. And yet the solution, it turned out, was Chris Woakes bowling wicket-to-wicket with an umbrella field and the wicketkeeper standing up. On a tough day for the 36-year-old at his favourite ground, this feathered edge held by Jamie Smith felt like an oasis in the desert.
And Bumrah? When he sat out the win at Edgbaston – despite a week to recover from the strains of defeat at Headingley – it was hard not to conclude that the lure of Lord’s and its honours boards was a contributing factor. Every venue has them and yet the combination of gold leaf and mahogany in St John’s Wood is somehow different to the rest and sits on the bucket list of any cricketer worth their salt.
Just ask Root. Even with his name on the honours board seven times previously, England’s master batter still made a point of telling the signwriters to get to work after he slashed the first ball of the day for four and celebrated three-figures for the 37th time. Like his class with the bat, the buzz of getting on there clearly endures.
Bumrah played it cooler when bowling Archer to complete his 15th Test five-wicket haul but his first at Lord’s. Teammates were practically imploring him to raise the ball to all corners of the ground – the tradition first started by Glenn McGrath – and eventually he relented. Inside, one suspects, he was bursting with pride.
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This performance was certainly worthy of it, Bumrah following his removal of Harry Brook on day one by dominating the morning. And like that dismissal of Brook, it was the ball that nipped in which did the damage as Stokes, 44, and Root both had their stumps rearranged. When Bumrah nicked off Woakes first ball, England were suddenly 271 for seven and in danger of squandering Root’s diligent spade work.
And yet the darndest thing then happened. A Dukes ball that was just 10.3 overs old and had been doing plenty for India’s spearhead was swapped by the umpires, with batting soon becoming less of a chore. And after a life on five when dropped by Rahul in the slips, Smith set off on a little gem of a counterattack that, with Brydon Carse offering support at the other end, put on 84 runs for the eighth wicket.
Smith fell in the first over after lunch for 51 – Mohammed Siraj, earlier denied by Rahul’s drop, finally getting his man – but Carse ploughed on to make 56 from 83 balls. The single that Carse took to expose Archer to Bumrah was not the smartest bit of cricket but after the No 9 hit six fours and a glorious straight six to bring up his maiden Test half-century, England’s total looked far cleverer by its conclusion.
Indeed, only once in history has a team scored more first innings runs at Lord’s and gone on to lose a Test match, with England suffering this fate during the 1930 Ashes after making 425 all out.
Australia had a player called Don Bradman to thank for that turnaround but India’s modern day equivalent, Gill, is back in the pavilion.
