A Lords classic

The first day at Lords and although it’s only been a few days I’ve missed Test cricket!  Great to see Archer back in the team but I’m surprised Tongue was the man to miss out?  England won the toss and thankfully batted on a slow, low pitch.  What followed was what we once called “attritional cricket”, certainly not BB!  On the one hand it was good to see England digging in on a tricky pitch but on the other, wasn’t the BB approach supposed to be the answer on these wickets?  Everyone got a start today but Root held everything together to finish on 99* and Crawley did himself no favours.  Bumrah was brilliant again.

The second day started with Root completing another century then a Bumrah burst threatened to derail England.  Smith and Carse put an attacking partnership together to push the total up to 387.  India went in and the recalled Jofra Archer took a wicket with his third ball and was excellent all day.  India tried to occupy the crease, held together by Rahul finished on 145/3.  England slightly ahead after two days?

I tuned in the following morning hoping, almost expecting quick wickets but it didn’t happen!  Rahul got a ton and together with Pant dug in and set the tone for the day with England having to scrap for wickets pretty much all day, Stokes running out Pant was crucial.  India looked like they would go past England’s total but eventually those wickets came with Woakes having a bit of luck for a change and the scores ended up level on first innings.  At the end of their innings India lost 4/11.  Then it all kicked off at the start of England’s second innings with time wasting tactics from Crawley winding up the Indians.

So we had a one innings match now, England batting to set a target but it’s so bloody tense because India bowled well on a wearing pitch and dominated the morning session with four wickets.  After lunch Root and Stokes threatened to steer England into ascendancy but the moment I started to relax Root was out.  The innings stuttered along in this fashion and for the second time this match I ended up thinking that right now BB would be the way to go!  And had England attacked they couldn’t have collapsed more spectacularly.
After an early wicket to Archer the Indian response threatened to take the game away but a late burst from Carse dragged England back into the game, then Stokes bowled the night watchman with the last ball of the day and it’s anyone’s game!

The final day, no sign of rain so a draw is out of the question but the other three results are possible at the start of play but after the opening burst it looked like being a comfortable England win.  It was anything but.  Jadeja was brilliant and with help from the tail he kept India in the game and nudging towards the total.  At times in the afternoon it looked like he was leading India to an unlikely win and from a nervous fan’s perspective, possibly the most uncomfortable final session since the 2005 Ashes.  An injured Bashir took the final wicket and thank fuck for that!!!!!!!!!! 
What a Test match!!  I’m delighted that England got the win and at the same time have a huge amount of respect for the Indian team.  England may be 2-1 up but for fine margins could be 3-0 down, this series has been excellent so far and it isn’t over by a long way. 

Bashir will miss the rest of the series so will England pick a proper spinner or will they squeeze Jacob Bethall into the team?  (Earlier today Dawson was announced in the squad which is a sensible selection.) Will one of the seamers be rested?  Carse was excellent at times in this match but I’d like to see Tongue have another go and the likes of Atkinson and Wood are approaching fitness too.  I moan about Test series’ being over in a flash these days but I can’t wait for the next match.