England's thrilling 22-run victory over India at Lord's seals 2-1 Test series lead
- Last updated: July 14, 2025 | 20:36
England beat India by 22 runs in the Lord's test on the fifth and final day and took a 2-1 lead in their five-test series on Monday.
Spinner Shoaib Bashir got the final wicket in agonizing fashion for India, when Mohammed Siraj played on. He defended the ball but it spun back and dribbled into his leg stump, knocking off the bail.
India, in pursuit of a winning target of 193, was on the verge of imminent defeat at 112-8 at lunch. But Ravindra Jadeja shepherded the tail to threaten a miracle win. He dragged his side to within sight of victory but they were all out for 170 and Jadeja was left stranded on 61 not out after facing 181 balls.
A new-ball show by Jofra Archer and captain Ben Stokes in the morning drained the tension and hastened India's demise from 58-4 overnight in its second innings.
A fiery Archer took 3-55 and an impressive match haul of five wickets in his first test in 4 1/2 years.
Stokes bowled two incredible spells of nine overs in the morning (1-18) and 10 straight in the afternoon (1-14). His reward was to dismiss India's set batter Lokesh Rahul and break the ninth-wicket partnership between Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah that was just starting to worry England.
England, which chased down 371 at Headingley, rebounded from being outclassed at Edgbaston, where it lost by 336 runs.
India set itself 193 to win at Lord's but the top order collapsed for the first time in the series. It started the day already dented on 58-4 and lost Rishabh Pant, Rahul and Washington Sundar in the first 40 minutes. India was 112-8 at lunch, still a long 81 runs away from glory and staring at defeat.
The Dukes ball then lost its hardness but England was relentless without giving away any free runs.
Jadeja and Bumrah dropped India's target below 80, 70, 60 and 50 but after combining for 35 runs in 22 overs, Bumrah hacked at a Stokes short ball and top-edged to mid-on. Bumrah scored 5 in 54 balls.
Jadeja then also did his best to keep scoring while protecting No. 11 batter Siraj. After tea, they added seven runs in five overs with the second new ball imminent, and were unlucky in the end.
Associated Press