Day 3 of the third Test between England and India at Lord’s turned out to be quite the topsy-turvy affair, one that ended on a dramatic note with a showdown between the English openers and Shubman Gill and his men. India resumed from their overnight score of 145/3 with KL Rahul going on to bring up his second century at the ‘Home of Cricket’ and Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja completing half-centuries, the latter going past fifty for the third consecutive time.
India, however, suffered yet another batting collapse towards the end, going from 376/6 to 387 all out to finish level on scores with the hosts. The final Indian wicket fell at a time when there were another 15 minutes left in the day’s play, meaning Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj could have bowled an over each and tried to break the opening partnership before close of play.
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Zak Crawley and his opening partner Ben Duckett, however, took their sweet time to arrive at the crease even as the Indians were nearly at their fielding positions with Bumrah at the top of his bowling mark. Crawley continued his delay tactics thereafter, staging last-minute pull-outs and taking his time to get into his batting stance, much to the dismay of Gill and the Indians.
Things got somewhat out of hand after Crawley was struck on his hand while attempting to block a delivery from Bumrah, and signalled for the physio. The Indians gathered around Crawley giving him a mock applause while an irate Gill got into an argument with Crawley as well as Duckett, with the English openers unfazed by the angry reaction.
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In the end, the hosts got what they wanted with the clock striking 6.30 pm local time by the time Bumrah sent down the final delivery, setting up an exciting penultimate day in the third Test.
Here are some pictures that encapsulate the drama in Bumrah’s over to Crawley on Saturday: