2021 (Virat Kohli led India to a dramtic win)
Virat Kohli is just the third Indian skipper to win a Test match at Lords. The first Test of the series was drawn because of the rains. But India started as favorites to win the second Test match at Lords. Indian openers batted brilliantly in the first stage of posting an inning. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma shared a partnership of 126 runs for the opening wicket.
This stand was the first for India after 2011. KL Rahul scored a spectacular knock of 129 runs while Hit Man Sharma scored 83 runs. But the middle order of the Indian Team wasn’t up to the mark as Idia lost the advantage of posting a bigger score on the board.
England’s response was great only because of their captain Joe Root. The England skipper was in rich form since the first Test and he continued his class at Lords as well. Root scored an unbeaten 180 runs which allowed England to be in the game and also gain a lead of 27 runs. For India Mohammad Siraj, Shami and Ishant was the pick of the bowlers.
India’s second innings didn’t have a good start as in-form openers were out early. Kohli batted for a little time. But he also was perished to his same old dismissal of outside the off stump. Rahane and Pujara held the innings together which frustrated the home side. Rahane scored with 61 runs and Pujara was out after he scored 45 runs.
After both the Test specialist were dismissed, it was the tail-enders of India who guided them towards a mammoth score. Pant was dismissed early on the fifth day morning and then it was Shami and Bumrah’s show with the bat. Shami scored his career-best unbeaten 56 runs while Bumrah was also not out on 30 runs which allowed India to set a target of 271 runs.
Nothing went according to England’s plans. They aimed to win the Test match on day four. But they evoked out the battle between Bumrah and Anderson. That led the fie in Bumrah and Shami which helped them to dominate with the bat. England played for only survival which didn’t help their cause. The Indian bowlers made good use of the overcast conditions and bundled the hosts out for just 120 runs. India won the match by 151 runs in the end.
