The Indian cricket team lost the 2nd Test against England by an innings and 159 runs at Lord’s cricket ground on Sunday. In response to England's 289-run lead, India could only score 130 runs in 47 overs. Moreover, this is India's first-ever defeat by an innnigs under Virat Kohli's captaincy.
With this defeat, the hosts lead the series 2-0 with three more games to go.
After a terrible batting collapse in the previous two sessions, team India was left with no other option than to stretch the game as long as possible. However, the hosts were eyeing on finishing the business as soon as possible.
The 55-run partnership between Pandya and Ashwin for the 7th wicket turned out to be the highest for India in both the innings. The duo fought the battle for quite a long time in the last session but Chris Woakes didn’t allow them to take it further.
In the 43rd over, he removed Pandya on 26 which took England another step closer to victory.
James Anderson, who claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings, claimed two more wickets towards the end, removing Kuldeep Yadav and Shami on a duck.
It was Chris Woakes who hit the last nail in the coffin. In the 36th over, he took the wicket of Ishant Sharma to end the game on a winning note.
Broad's mayhem after Lunch
After waiting for almost an hour, the weather finally allowed the play to resume after an early lunch. Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara came to rescue the Indian innings which was badly dampened by James Anderson before the break.
The duo batted for almost an hour and a half and withstood strong against the swing attack. Sustaining the English blow patiently, both the batters added 22 runs in 12.5 overs. But soon this partnership came to an end as Stuart broad struck and had the Indian vice-captain. A bad shot led Rahane back to the dressing room and India were reduced to 35/3.
Amid his back pain, captain Virat Kohli came to bat at number 5 and joined Cheteshwar Pujara at the crease. Time and again, the discomfort appeared on his face but he kept his calm and cautiously took the game ahead.
But by the time Kohli adjusted his feet at the crease, India got another shocker from broad and the way he removed Pujara was deadly. A lovely inswinger with the seam up pointing towards fine leg did its job perfectly and the Indian Test specialist was left completely bamboozled.
Now since half of the team was back to the pavilion, the responsibility fell ultimately on Kohli’s shoulders. His struggle with his back pain might not have ended very soon but his innings did. Broad, who was already yelling fire with the ball, removed the Indian skipper with the help of Ollie Pope who took an easy catch at short leg.
Right in the next ball, he dismissed Karthik on a golden duck but couldn’t claim a hat-trick. The rain hit back and the game had to stop after completion of 32 overs.
The dramatic first session
The overcast conditions and James Anderson continued haunting the visitors as India once again lost their first wicket without even opening the account. The veteran English speedster hunted down Murali Vijay on a duck for the second time in this game.
With this success, Anderson became the only second bowler after Muttiah Muralitharan to claim 100 wickets at a single venue.
After 3.3 overs, India went off the mark with a boundary coming off KL Rahul’s willow. However, he failed to make the most of his outing as an opener for India. In the 7th over, Anderson struck again and sent Rahul back to the dressing room on an individual score of 10 runs.
Post the departure of the opening duo, Pujara and Rahane took over the centre stage but a sudden interruption of rain stopped the play.
India began day 4 without Kohli
Earlier today, Virat Kohli’s absence turned out to be another reason for team India to worry about. As a result, Ajinkya Rahane’s has to fit in his shoes when the team took the field against England on Sunday.
As per the reports, Kohli’s back pain didn’t allow him to play when England resumed their innings. On Saturday, the Indian skipper didn't come field during the last session and Ravindra Jadeja took his place. However, no further update on his health has been issued by the team management.
According to the rulebook, Kohli could only come after 37 minutes after the start of the Indian innings as he was out of the field for the same amount of time during while England were batting.
England declared their innings right after losing the wicket of Sam Curran. The hosts posted a huge total of 396 for 7, taking a lead of 289 runs.
Brief Scores:
India - 107 and 130 (Ashwin 33; Anderson 4/23, Broad 4/44 )
England - 396/7 declared (Waokes 137, Shami 3/ 96, Pandya 3/66)