Day 2 of the third Test between India and England at Lord’s ended evenly poised, with England finishing at 145/3, trailing India by 242 runs. England started the day strong, thanks to Joe Root completing his 37th Test century, which gave them an early advantage. But Jasprit Bumrah stole the spotlight with a lethal spell that earned him a five-wicket haul, limiting England to 387 in the second session.
Mohammed Siraj also made headlines, not just for his bowling but for an unusual act on the field. Despite delivering probing spells, he was left frustrated after being denied wickets twice in quick succession.
In the 87th over, Siraj almost dismissed Jamie Smith when the batter edged a back-of-length delivery to KL Rahul at second slip, only for Rahul to drop the catch. Just two overs later, Siraj beat Smith’s defense again, this time with a fuller ball that narrowly missed the stumps.
Feeling the frustration mount, Siraj resorted to the “switch the bails” superstition—a tactic Virat Kohli famously used during India’s 2023-24 South Africa tour. The ritual, believed to bring luck to bowlers, seemed to work eventually.
“𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝑺𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒋 𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔.”
Bumrah’s Five-For and Rahul’s Resistance Keep India in Contention
The persistence paid off as Siraj finally removed Jamie Smith for 51 in the 107th over. He also picked up the wicket of Brydon Carse, who scored a gritty 56. Bumrah’s fiery morning spell, which fetched him five wickets, ensured England couldn’t extend their total further.
After bundling out England, India began their innings with caution but suffered early blows. They lost captain Shubman Gill for 16, Yashasvi Jaiswal for 13, and Karun Nair for 40, who fell short of his first fifty in three matches.
At stumps, India were 145 for 3, with KL Rahul anchoring the innings and keeping India in striking distance of England’s first-innings score.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆-𝒐𝒇-𝒕𝒉𝒆-𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑩𝒖𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒐𝒇𝒓𝒂 𝑨𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒔,” 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒚’𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚.
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