Related Links : India’s tour of England : Scorecard
A superb spell of swing bowling from Jimmy Anderson complemented by the persistence of Ryan Sidebottom saw India lose their advantage on the third day’s play. India were skittled out for just 201 which gave England perhaps a match winning lead of 97. England at stumps on the third day converted that into a 174 with eight wickets standing in their second innings. The Lord’s Test in in their control with that!
England had to wait for twenty minutes in the morning to find their first scalp. It was the big one of Sourav Ganguly going down with the southpaw cleaned up between bat pad gap by a lovely inswinger from Anderson. Ganguly could add just 9 runs to his overnight score of 25 before being done in by the late swing. After a while, RP Singh (17), the night watchman after getting some useful runs fell slogging Sidebottom. That now left VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni in the middle to face up a tough challenge.
What could have been a dangerous partnership from two strokeplayers was spoilt by Anderson as he surprised an adventurous MS Dhoni with a sharp incoming delivery that had plenty of kick in it. It was a 5-ball duck for Dhoni and India found themselves in deep trouble at 175 for 7. A stubborn 20-ball resistance from the ever reliable Anil Kumble came to an end to an incoming delivery from Sidebottom and that was it for VVS Laxman, almost getting stranded at one end helplessly. VVS was the next one to depart feeling for a delivery that was slanting across him as he got out for 15 to Sidebottom. The innings came to a close in just the next over, the 78th when Jimmy Anderson came up with his fifth wicket getting Zaheer to glove a short delivery into the slips. Anderson filled up Hoggard’s shoes perfectly well in this Test Match to take career best figures of 5 for 42 in 24.2 overs. The hard working Sidebottom got 4 for 65 in 22 overs.
Only rain could save India having squandered the advantage, England by all means were keen to take control of the match with some sensible batting. And it was rain indeed striking Lord’s after the lunch break and a couple of hours were lost. It could have been more but the drainage system and the covers at Lord’s is simply outstanding! The two left handed openers for England stroked confidently but at the same time there was a determination in the Indian bowling and fielding. In the ninth over of the session, Zaheer Khan found the breakthrough as Strauss was induced into a false shot to nick one into the slips. Strauss made 17 as England got to a solid start of 40 for 1. In his next over Zaheer struck once again to lift up his team, this time trapping Cook in front of the stumps. Cook was out lbw for the second time in this match, he also made 17.
Cook’s dismissal saw the entry of Kevin Pietersen to join Michael Vaughan. The Indian pacers had a go at Pietersen with some short deliveries and had him struggling before it was again rain time at Lord’s. Another couple of hours were lost leaving just about 30 minutes of play towards the end. Vaughan and Pietersen negotiated this period to have England sailing steadily at 77 for 2. Vaughan has got 16 in 50 balls while Pietersen has got 15 in 40 balls. England got their 77 runs in 27 overs which meant that the Indian bowling did try its best in trying to get their side back in the game. Rahul Dravid used just his three fast bowlers so far. The road seems to be tough for the Indians, they would need wickets in a heap on the fourth day and then bat out really well. England would be careful in not repeating their first innings mistakes and look to bat out India out of the first test.