India skittle England to win the second Test after Shami and Bumrah star with the bat

On a dark day for English cricket, India pulled off a remarkable comeback win at Lord’s to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match Test series.

Despite going into day five as underdogs, Virat Kohli’s men stunned the hosts with Mohammed Shami’s 56 and not out and a ninth-wicket partnership with Jasprit Bumrah (34) pushing his side to a score of 298-9 and a lead of 271.

Overnight, the majority of Indian hopes had been pinned on Rishabh Pant who remained the only recognised batsman remaining alongside an extended tail which began with Ishant Sharma (16) batting at eight for the first time in his career.

When Ollie Robinson forced Pant into edging through to Jos Buttler for just 14, the chances of a victory for the tourists appeared slim, but little did anyone foresee Shami’s antics with the bat and the England collapse that would follow.

The 30-year-old certainly played with great intent throughout his enterprising and match-winning knock, even if there was an absence of an orthodox technique.

Shami opted to target Moeen Ali’s off-spin and would slog the all-rounder on three occasions with the final shot going for six over cow-corner bringing up his second-ever Test half-century.

Bumrah played a major part too and posted his highest international score in the process. Kohli opted to declare two overs after lunch with two of his most potent bowlers putting on 89 runs for the ninth wicket and completely changing the complexion of the game.

Questions will be asked of Joe Root’s tactics and whether he placed an unnecessary impetus on short bowling as opposed to maintaining a successful line and length that had troubled the likes of Kohli, Pant and first-innings centurion KL Rahul.

Nonetheless, England required both openers to remain at the crease for a significant period of time if they were to come away with a draw given that the possibility of a win had been all but eradicated.

Yet, in reality, their top-order woes resumed as Rory Burns and Dom Sibley both fell for ducks to Bumrah and Shami respectively to leave their side at 1-2.

Haseeb Hameed’s return to international cricket would not go to plan as he followed up a golden duck with a score of just nine thanks to Ishant’s lethal in-swinger.

It goes without saying at this point that Joe Root (33) looked a class above his teammates and the skipper once again would find the boundary with ease.

Ishant’s longevity may not be that of Jimmy Anderson, but after making his Test debut 14 years ago, the level of his bowling should not be overlooked as the 32-year-old pinned Jonny Bairstow for LBW.

The knockout blow would then arrive courtesy of Bumrah.

Statistically, Root struggles more against Bumrah than any other Indian bowler, and he edged into the hands of Kohli from a delivery wide of the crease that angled in towards off-stump.

Mohammed Siraj continued to showcase his talents and win admirers throughout the game as he ran rampant through the lower order to secure a memorable victory.

He dismissed Moeen Ali (13) and Sam Curran (0) in consecutive balls with the latter picking up a king pair.

Bumrah struck for a final time with a magical slower ball to see off Robinson (9) before Siraj broke the key resistance of Buttler (25) who would have been disappointed to play at the ball outside off.

At one point it seemed that Buttler and Robinson may be able to rescue a draw, but India always perform when under pressure, just as good teams should.

Siraj sealed the win with a peach as he knocked over Anderson’s off-stump and set off wild celebrations amongst the Indian players and supporters.

While there will be another English post-mortem and rightly so, it would be wrong to disregard the efforts of the tourists’ attack and the gutsy performance with the bat from Shami and Bumrah. Kohli also marshalled his troops with great effectiveness and managed his bowlers well.

Root and Head Coach, Chris Silverwood, will both realise that another pathetic excuse of a batting display is where the defeat steams from. However, who do they turn to next? Can they really change the personnel to a greater extent than they already have done?

Something needs to change of course, and quickly. Both men have their job’s on the line, even more so with an Ashes series coming up.

Although Root cannot be blamed for his efforts with the bat, the Yorkshireman was adamant that he made mistakes as a captain.

“Tactically I got a few things wrong, and a lot falls on my shoulders, the game could have looked very different if I had managed things slightly different, and I will learn from that experience.

“Looking back, some of the field placings and the way we bowled at them – we could have attacked the stumps more frequently.”

Whereas Kohli was left to commend the effort and character of his players after recovering from a turbulent position.

“It takes a lot of character to bat like that under pressure, as bowlers who don’t often bat, and they then charged out and took the new ball and got us two breakthroughs as well, which was crucial for us.

“We had the belief we could get them out in those 60 overs and the bowlers were outstanding – especially for someone like Siraj, playing at Lord’s for the first time.”

A period of rest lies ahead for both sides before they meet again for the third test at Headingley, beginning on the 29th of August.

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