ENG vs IND

Five days of proper attrition, a little argy-bargy and a myriad of twists and turns later, England come out on top to take a 2-1 lead in the series. Something about July 14th, Stokes and Archer — seem to be the perfect recipe for a cricketing blockbuster.

India would be hurting. But they will have to regroup and channelise the pain of this loss in the right direction. They have a good eight days to do so. The fourth Test will begin on July 23rd, Wednesday and this time it will be a must win for them. Hopefully, the battle of Old Trafford will be able to live up to the bar of expectation, which is now pretty high.

Like always, we will be there to call the action. For now, it is time to wrap up the coverage. This is Darpan Tikiya, saying goodbye on the behalf of Pradeep and the entire team. See you soon!

Ben Stokes is the Player of the Match for his 44, 33 and a five wicket haul and then that crucial run-out! Here's what he has to say: "It was actually part of the reason why I went with Jofra in the morning, Jofra played a major role on that day as well in 2019 finals. Bit of a discussion in dressing room. Brydon had an amazing spell last evening, but I had a gut feeling Jofra would turn up with something special. It's been awesome to have him back out there. The feeling in the game just changes, first time back out for him and he got us some crucial wickets for us. I thought I'd take myself in too, bowling in a test match for your country, if that doesn't get you excited, I don't what does. Bashir played a crucial role with a broken hand. We knew what was on the line, yesterday was a bit different. To be honest, I was absolutely cooked yesterday but with the game on the line, nothing would've stopped me today. I'm an all-rounder, I get four opportunities to influence the game, you get an opportunity to do well with either bat or ball. That's the great thing about being an all-rounder, doesn't really have a chance to worry about a thing. As I said, I was in the middle of a spell there, I was pumped. Very important position at short extra-cover, was alert and then natural instincts took over. It was a big part of the game, Rishabh was playing well, that wicket was a big one. It's not done yet, two very good teams going after, toe to toe. Be ready to go to Manchester in a week or so."

Shubman Gill [India captain]: "Extremely proud. This is as close as a test match gets, came down to the last session and last wicket, tremendously proud of the boys. We had plenty of batting left, we were confident. England kept attacking, needed better partnerships at the top order. There's always hope, as long as there's a batter batting, the target was in reach. Jadeja is very experienced, he knew what he was doing, didn't send any message from the dressing room, he batted well with the tail. At one point, had we got a lead of 80 or 90 runs, on fifth day, it wouldn't have been easy to chase anything close to 200 and hence the lead would've been crucial. The last one hour that we played, we could've applied a bit better, especially the last two wickets last evening. Things would've been easier had we got a fifty run partnership. The series scorecard doesn't reflect how well we've been playing."

4:52 PM local time, 9:22 PM IST | England win by 22 runs and take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Test cricket can be cruel at times. After five days of sapping, attritional play garnished with theatrics, altercations and umpteen number of twists and turns, it came to a point where neither team deserved to lose. Heck, the murmurs of a "tie" might have never been as loud as for a Test match as they were for this one. But alas, in the end, the visitors fall short. The dejection that the Indian players feel right now is palpable and manifests in the drooping shoulders and glum faces. They not just competed, but were even ahead in the contest at several points over the last five days. Yet, when the future generations will look back at this match, all they will see is that India ended on the losing side.

Did Jadeja play a bit too safe? Did the extras they gave away come back to haunt them? Did the collapse in the first innings cost them? A lot to unpack, but it would be done in the upcoming days. For now, it is time to celebrate the winning side.

Three men in particular. The first was Jofra Archer, who on July 14 at Lord's put in another performance that will be remember for ages. His snorter to get rid of Pant today and the stunning caught and bowled of Sundar put England in the driver's seat. Of course, how can you not talk of Ben Stokes. He had gone through a surgery a few months back and was not supposed to bowl long spells. Yet, he did, because the team needed him and delivered the goods by picking the all important wicket of KL Rahul and then, broke the stubborn stand between Jadeja and Bumrah. But in essence, it was all set up by Brydon Carse, who with his riveting spell last evening turned the game on its head. Remember, he also got a crucial lower order fifty in the first innings.

Apart from this Joe Root's sumptuous century, KL Rahul's gritty ton in the first innings, lion-hearted spells from Siraj and Bumrah as well as Washington Sundar's four-for were the performances that will be remembered for a long time.

England players walk through the long room to a standing ovation from the members. They have been treated to some gripping cricket. Stokes looks jaded as trudges up the stairs. 

Siraj is down on his haunches, visibly heart-broken. One by one, Root, Crawley and Brook come around to console him. Ben Stokes goes up to both the Indian batters and gives them a hug one by one.

74.5 Shoaib Bashir to Mohammed Siraj, OUT! DRAGS IT BACK ON! Agony for India, England pull off a cliffhanger at Lord's and they go 2-1 up in the series! Unlucky Siraj! It was short and kicks off the turf. Siraj thought he dropped into the turf safely, but it ends up squirting back on to the stumps. England take off to celebrate. Siraj down on his haunches. What a Test match we've had! Long live Test Cricket!

74.4 Shoaib Bashir to Mohammed Siraj, fires full outside the off-stump, Siraj comes forward and blunts it back to the ground on the off-side.

74.3 Shoaib Bashir to Ravindra Jadeja, drags it short on fourth stump, keeps low. Jadeja went back and turned it off the toe end of the bat towards square-leg for one.

Siraj is in pain. The ball has rapped him on the left bicep. He walked away from the wickets and went down on his knees while clutching the spot where the ball hit him. The team physio comes rushing onto the park. 

73.6 Jofra Archer to Mohammed Siraj, OH MY! Nasty bumper and Siraj takes the blow on to his shoulder or something, he's down. Hostile stuff from Archer. Banged it in, well directed but didn't bounce much. Siraj tried to fend it away awkwardly, but cops the blow on to his body this time.