The final day of the second Test will surely go down as “one of the most intense in the 207- year history of Lord’s”, said Ali Martin in The Guardian. It began with England pressing for victory – having valiantly fought their way back into the game – but ended, at 6.35pm, with Mohammed Siraj sealing an astonishing 151-run victory for India with the “detonation of Jimmy Anderson’s off-stump”. Over the three sessions, watched by 25,800 spectators, both sets of players regularly “snarled and swore at each other”. This was a thrilling, if unusually bad-tempered, day of cricket.
And unfortunately, it was Joe Root’s men who “lost the plot”, said Mike Atherton in The Times. When play began, the match seemed theirs for the taking: India were 181-6 in their second innings – a lead of just 154 runs. Soon, England increased their advantage with the wickets of Ishant Sharma and Rishabh Pant. That brought “two rabbits” to the crease – Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami. Yet inexplicably, England all of a sudden lost discipline and focus. With the field spread, they pelted Bumrah with bouncers – in attempted revenge for the paceman’s aggressive spell of bowling against Anderson two days earlier. The tactic backfired: Bumrah’s “stumps were rarely threatened”, and the two batsmen picked off runs with increasing ease. They ended up putting on an unbroken 89 for the ninth wicket – enabling captain Virat Kohli to declare shortly after lunch. Those watching professed dismay at England’s strategy; Michael Vaughan called it “schoolboy cricket”.
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What an “extraordinary, see-saw Test match” this was, said Simon Wilde in The Times. England’s “brain-fade” certainly contributed to India’s victory, but it was also testament to the “strong collective spirit” in Kohli’s squad: this is a side that relishes adversity, and never gives up. England, who now trail the five-match series 1-0, have their work cut out if they are to turn things round.