Nothing can separate England and India as 3rd test turns feisty at Lord’s

LONDON (AP) — Three days in and nothing can separate England and India in a tightly fought and increasingly feisty third test at Lord’s.

Replying to England’s 387 all out, India was dismissed for exactly the same total 15 minutes before the end of play at the home of cricket on Saturday.

It was only the ninth time in nearly 150 years of test cricket that the scores were level after the first innings.

England closed on 2-0 after just one over of the second innings — played to a backdrop of needle and spiciness, with the India team angry that openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley tried every stalling tactic possible to reduce the number of balls bowled. Things got heated, especially between Crawley and India captain Shubman Gill as they squared up to each other.

The test effectively boils down to a one-innings match. The series is also locked at 1-1.

“You toil away for three days and you sit here with a two-run lead,” England bowling coach Tim Southee said. “Looking forward to a two-day shootout.”

Lokesh Rahul was India’s top scorer with exactly 100, before losing his wicket off his very next ball soon after lunch when he edged spinner Shoaib Bashir to Harry Brook at slip.

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Ravindra Jadeja added a vital 72 to go with a typically entertaining knock of 76 by Rishabh Pant, who was run out brilliantly by England captain Ben Stokes off what proved to be the last ball of the morning session. Pant was looking for a quick single to give Rahul – on 98 at the time – the strike in the final over before lunch.

Nitish Kumar Reddy (30) and Washington Sundar (23) chipped in with decent lower-order contributions.

Finger-pointing at the finish

Duckett and Crawley ambled to the middle for a very brief start to England’s second innings and, with shadows lengthening, began their stalling tactics that ultimately worked. The Indians managed just one over — from star bowler Jasprit Bumrah — when they could maybe have forced three.

India’s players, especially Gill, were livid and much of their ire was directed at Crawley, who held up Bumrah by saying there was movement behind the bowler’s arm and again when he took some time to recover from being hit on the glove.

The Indians surrounded Crawley, who barked back, and there was plenty of finger-pointing before the teams walked off the field, with the sledging continuing.

England players were seen laughing up on the balcony outside their dressing room.

“I understand, from an opening batter’s point of view, it’s something that happens a lot,” Rahul said of what he described as “theatrics” at the end of play.

It remains to be seen if India’s players are still as fired up at the start of Day 4, with the late-day drama lighting up what had been an attritional test match until that point.

Injury to Bashir

Bashir, England’s frontline spinner, had to go off the field with an injury to the little finger on his left hand, sustained after lunch off his own bowling when he stopped a fierce shot down the ground from Jadeja.

The spinner didn’t reappear for the rest of the innings and was facing further assessment after stumps.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket