The just concluded test match at Lords, the second in a series of 5 test matches between India and England has been great for India. The English team had a great advantage on day 1 when it got a completely green wicket where the ball seemed around a lot but they didn't make good use of the advantage. The bowlers got too excited looking at the green wicket and bowled too short. With the sun out in the third session the English bowlers were tiring on one of the most hottest days in England at this time both Ajinkya Rahane and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar pressed home the advantage . Rahane went on to make a wonderful century , while Bhuvaneshwar Kumar contributed an excellent 36 runs even Sami and Ishant contributed 19runs and 12 runs respectively. The first seven wickets contributed 145 runs and the last 3 wickets contributed 150 runs. The lower order batting has been more than useful for Team India.
The English batsmen got better batting conditions in the second innings but Bhuvaneshwar Kumar managed to get good amount of swing and got 6 wickets ,England did manage to go beyond Indian score but only by a mere 24 runs.
In the third innings Indians did bat well but there was a time when India were 235 for 7 with Jadeja and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar on the pitch. Jadeja batted in his own flamboyant style coming down the pitch to the fast bowlers hitting them over the top he scored a quick fire 68 of a mere 57 balls on the other end Bhuvaneshwar was also making merry of his excellent batting form and scored 52 of 71 balls the 7 th wicket partnership of 99 runs turned out to be the deciding factor. Had this partnership not been there India would have surely lost the match.
The fourth day pitch was offering Jadeja some assistance from the rough the ball was turning, bouncing , keeping low he got the first wicket and got a rough decision from the umpire . Ishant managed to pick up two wickets in two overs in the third session. Day 5 the first session the pitch was offering some assistance to the bowlers but the batter Moeen Ali and Root were negotiating it well , one edge of Joe Root fell well short of slip who was probably standing too deep. England were about to go to lunch without losing a wicket but Ishant Sharma bowled a short ball to Moeen Ali to which he tried to sway away but the ball struck the bat and went directly to the hands of the forward short leg.
After lunch runs were coming thick and fast for England the went up to 198 for 5 wickets at this time Ishant was bowling one after one short ball to both the batsman , he bowled a short ball outside the off stump to Prior which he tried to pull and ended up giving a catch to the fielder . After that all Ishant did was ball as many short balls that he could and the English batsmen tried to hook them or play at them eventually getting caught by someone. All these balls could have been easily left by them. Winning the match would have been difficult for England but the way in which the wickets were lost after lunch to balls that could have been left must have disappointed the captain and coach. England lost the match in spite of having the better conditions to bowl and field.
The English batsmen got better batting conditions in the second innings but Bhuvaneshwar Kumar managed to get good amount of swing and got 6 wickets ,England did manage to go beyond Indian score but only by a mere 24 runs.
In the third innings Indians did bat well but there was a time when India were 235 for 7 with Jadeja and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar on the pitch. Jadeja batted in his own flamboyant style coming down the pitch to the fast bowlers hitting them over the top he scored a quick fire 68 of a mere 57 balls on the other end Bhuvaneshwar was also making merry of his excellent batting form and scored 52 of 71 balls the 7 th wicket partnership of 99 runs turned out to be the deciding factor. Had this partnership not been there India would have surely lost the match.
The fourth day pitch was offering Jadeja some assistance from the rough the ball was turning, bouncing , keeping low he got the first wicket and got a rough decision from the umpire . Ishant managed to pick up two wickets in two overs in the third session. Day 5 the first session the pitch was offering some assistance to the bowlers but the batter Moeen Ali and Root were negotiating it well , one edge of Joe Root fell well short of slip who was probably standing too deep. England were about to go to lunch without losing a wicket but Ishant Sharma bowled a short ball to Moeen Ali to which he tried to sway away but the ball struck the bat and went directly to the hands of the forward short leg.
After lunch runs were coming thick and fast for England the went up to 198 for 5 wickets at this time Ishant was bowling one after one short ball to both the batsman , he bowled a short ball outside the off stump to Prior which he tried to pull and ended up giving a catch to the fielder . After that all Ishant did was ball as many short balls that he could and the English batsmen tried to hook them or play at them eventually getting caught by someone. All these balls could have been easily left by them. Winning the match would have been difficult for England but the way in which the wickets were lost after lunch to balls that could have been left must have disappointed the captain and coach. England lost the match in spite of having the better conditions to bowl and field.
But it is really wonderful to see this performance of India overseas , Indians left lots of balls outside offstump , in 2011 India - England series many batsmen were getting out chasing the deliveries outside offstump. The bowling was very disciplined and and the fast bowlers kept the balls up to the bat. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was good with both the ball and the bat. I just hope that India plays the same way in the next 3 test matches.
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