London: Mohammad Siraj jiggled the stumps of James Anderson on a sunny afternoon at the Lord’s as India registered an emphatic 151-run victory over England on the final day of the second Test on Monday, courtesy a four-wicket burst from Mohammed Siraj. This was also India’s third Test win at the Lord’s.
Defending 272, Indian bowlers produced a superb bowling display bundling the hosts for just 120 with Siraj being the star with 4/32. The right-arm pacer finished the match with 8/126. This came after a surprising unbeaten eight-wicket stand between Jasprit Bumrah (34 not out) and Mohammed Shami (56 not out) propelled India to a safety vault of 298/8 before Virat Kohli announced declaration in the second innings.
The story looked quite different in the morning. Coming onto bat with an overnight score of 181/6, England dented India’s hopes with a couple of early wickets in the morning session putting the visitors against the wall while strengthening the chances of reducing the target for them under 200.
However, the defining moment came as the tail wagged just at the right time as the Bumrah-Shami duo added vital 89 runs for the unbeaten ninth wicket to put India in contention for a victory.
While Shami brought up his second half-century in Tests, Bumrah provided ample support for the Bengal pacer. With one and half days in hand to bundle England, India turned up the heat right from the start packing both the openers Rory Burns and Dominic Sibley for a duck.
All the four Indian seamers were constantly holding the line of uncertainty outside off-stump testing the English batters to the limits. The brief resilient period when Joe Root batting with hopes to steer the match for a draw did worry the visitors a bit but after Bumrah (3/33) removed him for 32, the target started going further away from England’s grasp.
Jos Buttler and Olie Robinson did drag the game to the final few overs but India looked in control picking up the final three wickets within two overs to seal the deal as Kohli became the third Indian captain after Kapil Dev and MS Dhoni to register a Test victory at the Lords.
Brief scores: India 364 & 298/8 decl (Mohammed Shami 56*, Jasprit Bumrah 34*) beat England 391 & 120 (Joe Root 33; Mohammed Siraj 4/32, Jasprit Bumrah 3/33) by 151 runs.
