LONDON (AP) — Three days in and nothing can separate England and India in a tightly fought third test at Lord’s.
Replying to England’s 387 all out, India was dismissed for exactly the same total 15 minutes before the end of play at the home of cricket on Saturday.
It was only the ninth time in nearly 150 years of test cricket that the scores were level after the first innings.
England closed on 2-0 after just one over — played to a backdrop of some needle, with the India team unhappy that openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley tried every stalling tactic possible to reduce the number of balls bowled. Things got heated, especially between Crawley and India captain Shubman Gill.
The test effectively boils down to a one-innings match. The series is also locked at 1-1.
Lokesh Rahul was India’s top scorer with exactly 100, before losing his wicket off his very next ball soon after lunch when he edged spinner Shoaib Bashir to slip.
Ravindra Jadeja added a vital 72 to go with a typically entertaining knock of 76 by Rishabh Pant, who was run out brilliantly by England captain Ben Stokes off what proved to be the last ball of the morning session. Pant was looking for a quick single to give Rahul – on 98 at the time – the strike in the final over before lunch.
Nitish Kumar Reddy (30) and Washington Sundar (23) chipped in with decent lower-order contributions.
Duckett and Crawley came to the middle for a very brief spell and, with shadows lengthening, attempted their stalling tactics. It worked, with India just managing one over from star bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
India’s players, especially Gill, were livid, though after Crawley held up Bumrah because of movement behind the bowler’s arm and then when he took some time to recover from being hit on the glove.
The Indians surrounded Crawley, who barked back, and there was some sledging as the teams walked off the field at stumps.
Injury to Bashir
Bashir had to go off the field with an injury to the little finger on his left hand, sustained after lunch off his own bowling when he stopped a fierce shot down the ground from Jadeja.
The spinner didn’t reappear for the rest of the innings and was facing further assessment after stumps.
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The Associated Press
