History was penned at Lord’s as Mohammad Siraj ripped through the English tail to snuff out the dogged resistance and script a humdinger turnaround at Lord’s.
A day that started on a note of worry when India lost their best hope of salvation, Rishabh Pant soon turned into a bleak beacon of hope with Shami and Bumrah stitching together for a few overs.
With only 167 runs of lead in the kitty at the beginning of the day to an overwhelming 258 runs lead, India set a monumental total ahead of the hosts at the Mecca of Cricket.
The English openers were sent packing for a duck by Shami and Bumrah. Hameed and Root tried the initial overhaul and was successful till a certain extent before an effulgent Ishant Sharma removed Hameed and Bairstow.
Root seemed menacing again but this time Bumrah had other plans for the English Test captain as he compelled him to nick an unplayable delivery straight into the arms of Kohli.
With England wobbling at 67 for 5, Buttler and Moeen Ali started stitching together an imperative stand between themselves that was downright dogged since the word go. Just when it felt like that the Indian bowlers are losing the plot, Siraj was introduced to the attack.
The speedster sent the Indian fans erupting into delirious ecstasy as he claimed Moeen Ali to rattle the partnership and then bowled another peach to claim Sam Curran on the very next ball to reduce England to smattering remains.
Ollie Robinson summoned his entire batting flair and managed to play 35 balls for his 9 runs before Bumrah finally got the better of him.
It was a piece of poetic justice for Siraj as he was the one to strike the coup de grace by kissing Jimmy Anderson’s timbre, claiming another 4-fer and surging India to a lead in the 5-match Test series.
Siraj claimed four wickets in the first innings too that included the likes of Dom Sibley, Haseeb Hameed, Jonny Bairstow and Ollie Robinson.
To everyone’s surprise, Siraj notched up an incredible record at Lord’s by registering the best bowling figures by an Indian in a Test match. He claimed 8 for 126 from 40.5 overs bettering the preceding one of Kapil Dev whose figures read 7 for 117.
Mohammad Siraj registers the best bowling figures for India at Lord’s. pic.twitter.com/hfOaf1GQ1N
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) August 16, 2021
From Australia in 2020 to England at Lords on today, the young man has come a long way from the wraps of an intermittent IPL bowler.
He lost his father just ahead of the Australia series and Kohli backed him vociferously that saw the youngster coming out with flying colours Dowm Under.
The spirit and tenacity that Siraj has shown over the years has been absolutely overwhelming and it is this young lad who makes us believe in Indian cricket.
