BHUVI TAKES A CAREER-BEST 6/82
INDIA END DAY 3 OF LORD’S TEST AT 169/4
LORD’S: Despite both teams making slow progress, the second Test was placed on a knife’s edge at the end of the third day’s play at Lord’s on Saturday.
A short burst of fast bowling by Liam Plunkett and another umpiring howler by BNJ Oxenford had tilted the game in favour of England but opener Murali Vijay ground it out for India. The game is headed for a dramatic finish as India lead by 145 runs with six wickets in hand.
Batting with the concentration befitting his nickname ‘Monk’, Vijay soaked in the pressure to hold his end up when England made inroads to open up the top order. The opener is batting on 59 and will hold the key to India’s chances. Giving him company was skipper MS Dhoni, on 12, their unbroken partnership worth 46 runs.
PERFECT CONDITIONS
The day started with an overcast sky and threat of rain. But the famous London weather changed quickly. When the Indian second innings began, sun was beating down; in fact, too brightly to the home team’s liking, making bowling a slog.
They were just the conditions India would have dreamt of as they looked to set the tone. At 117 for one, the balance seemed to be tilting just towards India. It was a lead of 93 runs with nine wickets in hand and Cheteshwar Pujara and opener Murali Vijay entrenched during a partnership of 78.
However, the second Test has been all about changing fortunes, and staying true to that script, the bowlers suddenly came alive to cover a lot of lost ground. England’s charge was led by Plunkett, who struck a double blow, in effect, reaping the rewards of Stuart Broad’s work for the first breakthrough.
Broad had a loud leg before appeal turned down after he beat Pujara with an incutter. The batsman had got a big inside edge, but it seemed to sow the seed of doubt. England see a chink in his armour against the incoming ball, and Pujara knew it was a close call. So compact and confident till then, in the next over, Plunkett had the No 3 playing away from the body to a straight ball pitched far outside off stump. And India’s wall had fallen.
NICKING OFF-STUMP
The next ball was even more dramatic. Plunkett brought the house down with an inswinger to hit the top of off-stump against Virat Kohli, caught out shouldering arms first delivery. Suddenly, it was 118 for three and as Ajinkya Rahane walked to face the hattrick ball, India looked rattled. Plunkett missed the chance, but as it happens when the tide is turning, disaster struck again. The first innings centurion looked in disbelief when Oxenford raised the finger for a catch off the arm guard. Replays confirmed that.
It was ironical that the game-changing umpiring error occurred in full view of the Indian board’s big wigs, who were all in attendance on the third day. Oxenford is having a horror match, having earlier missed a thick inside edge off Joe Root in the England first inningstodeclarehimleg before against Jadeja. It again underlined the need for DRS to aid umpires.
In the morning, England finished marginally ahead, thanks to Plunkett’s half-century.