Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier, Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson v Arsenal under Arsene Wenger, Max Verstappen v Lewis Hamilton. The rivalry between India and England hasn’t quite turned into ill-feeling-not-not yet, at least – but there is no question the needle has been sharply pointed between the two teams as they have engineered a Lord’s classic.
Handbags on the third night sparked an electrifying fourth day. Most of the third Test had wandered and drifted, only for a manic Sunday to prepare the ground for a potentially hysterical Monday.
England require six wickets, India need 135 runs. The reward is a 2-1 advantage with two Tests remaining. This stadium – half cricket field, half museum – can get as rowdy as any. Just ask Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey. All 30,000 tickets are taken for what will likely be only a few hours of play.
“Having that competitive spark certainly improves the situation,” said England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick. “It improves the atmosphere and the intensity of the series.”Cricket has become a little more friendly in recent years because the players are all housed together in franchise tournaments around the world. By Sunday afternoon stretching into a warm evening, England had not much to hang on to.”.
The home team were bowled out – most of them literally – by the brilliance of the Indians, who took the help of the revived pitch to devastating effect. The tourists reached 41-1 in the chase for their score of 193. Brydon Carse played better than his first-innings performance of 1-88 indicated. As stumps on the fourth day approached, he finally reaped his rewards.
In a desperate final half hour, Carse galloped down the Lord’s slope like a dethorsed thoroughbred. Karun Nair was confused into kicking one off his stumps, captain Shubman Gill also pinned after overturning being awarded caught behind.
Chris Woakes extracted more from the home supporters, and Joe Root ran the orchestra from the first slip. India were incensed when Zak Crawley attempted to waste time on Saturday, but that did not inhibit nightwatchman Akash Deep from repeating the trick on Sunday. No matter, his off stump was chopped by Ben Stokes. Pandemonium.
“The last hour of watching, our lads running in particularly well, there was an edge to it, and it makes for a fantastic spectacle,” he said. We were quite calm in the dressing room, managing the emotions of what was happening. We all like every wicket, but we are still very in control of what we are trying to achieve.”
How much authority there is on Monday morning is yet to be determined. Woakes dropped KL Rahul on five, and the impassive opener is still there on 33. Rishabh Pant, seemingly fit enough to play but not to keep wicket, is next in line. His chaos theory might just win this at a glance.
“Rahul is the key to India’s side stability,” said former England captain Sir Alastair Cook. “As long as he is there, the dressing room will be in a relaxed mood.”.
“It’s who can cope with the pressure better. It ought to be England, given that they are at home and a little bit more experienced. If Pant gets into his stride, then none of these issues count. If he doesn’t, then pressure on India is ratcheted up even higher.”
