Six English batsmen and the weather stand in between India and their first test victory away from home since their last win at Durban some five years back. At the end of Day 4, India have found themselves in a position from where they would need a miracle to either lose or draw this match.
England finished the day on 105/4, needing 114 more runs to win this match. But they have only 6 wickets in hand and the way the Indians have bowled in the final session of the match it seems that such a result to this test match is a rare possibility. All the Indian bowlers which include Ishant Sharma and Mohammad Shami who looked a bit out of sorts in the first innings bowled well to have England under their grip at sumps. Ishant has picked up a couple of wickets while Shami has picked the first innings centurion Garry Ballance just 
at the time when it seemed that England might take the match away from India. However Ravindra Jadeja was the man who provided the first wicket for India when he trapped Sam Robson on the legs in front of the wicket. England have Moeen Ali and Joe Root batting on the crease. Moeen Ali lived a charmed life when Dhoni dropped him of a relatively tougher opportunity and when umpire Kumar Dharmasena turned down a strong appeal or Leg before wicket from Ravindra Jadeja.
Earlier in the day India was bowled out for 342 after resuming on 169/4. Murali Vijay missed a well-deserved century when he edged one to Jimmy Anderson on 95. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar once again played an invaluable knock of 52 that saw India’s lead getting past the 300-run mark. Ravindra Jadeja also played exceptionally well scoring 66 of just 57 balls as he smashed the English bowlers to all parts of the field.
As it stands now, the only thing that can save England now is the declining weather. The dark clouds at one end of the ground will surely feel the Englishmen a bit better but the scoreboard will surely give them sleepless nights. India on the other hand just need to keep up their excellent performance to force the result in their favour. So to know the final results, we simply have to wait and watch as it is going to be a thrilling encounter between bat and ball on the final day of the 2nd Investec Test match at Lord’s.
Tags: India vs England Lords Test
