New Delhi, Aug 16 , India made history on Monday as they beat England by 151 runs in the second Test to triumph at the Lord’s Cricket Ground after seven years in red-ball cricket. Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami swung the match in India’s favour on the final day to help the visitors register only their third Test win at the Home of Cricket and first after the famous 2014 triumph under MS Dhoni.
With about a half-hour left of a fractious day featuring regular verbal clashes between players, Mohammed Siraj bowled Jimmy Anderson and celebrated by removing the off stump he had just clattered and wheeling around the outfield in delight at the home of cricket.
India had declared their second innings on 298-8 just after lunch to set England 272 to win in 60 overs. It was a victory target the hosts never intended to chase, but one they couldn’t defend either as a highly charged Indian fast-bowling unit rattled the batsmen with their hostile spells throughout the day.
Mohammed Siraj finished as the standout bowler with 4 wickets while Bumrah grabbed 3 for 33. Ishant Sharma finished with 2 wickets and Shami got 1 as Indian fast bowlers bowled England out for the second time in succession to register the nation’s 7th Test win in England.England would have been confident of pushing for a win at the start of the day’s play when India resumed their second innings at 181 for 6 with a lead of 158 runs, and they even made the perfect start as Ollie Robinson got rid of the overnight batsman Rishabh Pant (22) and Ishant Sharma (16) in quick succession to leave India tottering at 209 for 8 in the first half-hour of play.
But that’s when the match completely changed and India stormed back in to the contest with a record 9th-wicket partnership between Shami and Bumrah, which effectively took the possibility of an English victory out of the window.
Shami and Bumrah stunned the English fast bowlers with their batting technique as both tail-enders applied themselves perfectly in tough conditions and against a newish Dukes ball.
They took India’s score from 209 to 294 for 8 by Lunch with Shami having brought up his second Test half-century. He hit a four off James Anderson right after play began and that’s when Kohli decided to declare the innings in the middle of the 110th over with India reached 298 for 8.
Shami remained unbeaten on his best-ever Test score of 56 while Bumrah remained not out on 34 as India set England a target of 272 runs to win thanks to their highest 9th-wicket partnership against England in the United Kingdom.
The duo took just 10 minutes for changeover before coming back to provide the perfect start with the ball as both Bumrah and Shami struck in the first over of their spells.
Bumrah removed Rory Burns for a duck in the first over before Shami produced an unplayable out-swinger to get the better of fellow opener Dom Sibley, also for naught.
Haseeb Hameed, making a comeback to the test side, tried to steady the ship along with skipper Joe Root but was trapped leg before wicket by Ishant Sharma for 9. The veteran pacer also accounted for Jonny Bairstow on the last ball before tea with a sharp in-swinger that was given out leg before after Indian successfully reviewed.
Bumrah then struck the killer blow on England with the wicket of Root for 33 in the first over of the final session before Mohammed Siraj sent back Moeen Ali and Sam Curran off successive deliveries to heat up things in the middle.
The two sides drew the first Test at Trent Bridge earlier this month after the final day was washed out. The players will now enjoy a short break before regrouping for the third match of the 5-Test series at Leeds from August 25.
