Veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and the usually fragile tail brought India back from the brink but fell heartbreakingly short in the face of England captain Ben Stokes’ resolve, going down by 22 runs in the wildly fluctuating third Test in London on Monday.
Down and out at 112 for eight, Jadeja (61 not out off 181) took the game deep with the help of Jasprit Bumrah (5 off 54) and Mohammed Siraj (4 off 30), before agonisingly ending up on the wrong side of the result in a game for the ages. The visitors now trail 1-2 in the five-match series.
India were chasing a seemingly gettable 193 but folded for 170 after their frontline batters endured a rare collective failure, engineered by the pace trio of Jofra Archer (3/55), player of the match Ben Stokes (3/48), and Brydon Carse (2/30).
Siraj showed plenty of fight, as he always does, but his forward defence off Shoaib Bashir rolled back onto his stumps, bringing him down on his knees in despair and bringing a thrilling finish to the match.
In an extended afternoon session, Jadeja batted efficiently alongside Bumrah and Siraj to take the visitors to within 30 runs of the victory target of 193.
The southpaw showed great resilience as he batted out the two-and-a-half-hour session with the tail-enders.
India were 163 for nine at tea, collecting 41 runs in the session for the loss of Bumrah (5 off 54), enthralling a packed crowd that got its money’s worth thanks to the gritty cricket on display by both sides.
It was Jadeja’s fourth half-century in a row and came in the most trying circumstances, with India staring at a big defeat.
In the morning, the match looked as good as over for India, whose inexperienced batting line-up failed its first major test and surrendered against the Archer-led England pace attack.
India, who batted brilliantly in the first two Tests, could not stand up to Archer and Co. on a spicy day-five pitch.
The outcome looked inevitable when Chris Woakes had Nitish Reddy caught behind at the stroke of lunch, leaving India tottering.
