DAY FOUR PREVIEW
Follow UsAfter KL Rahul etched his name on the honours board on the first day, it was the turn of England skipper Joe Root on the third day. Making it a habit now, Root’s name was engraved for the fourth time. The year 2021 keeps on getting better and better and better by every innings for the English skipper. Root went on to log another century, his fifth of the year and crossed the 1200-run mark. With three and a half matches to go in this series and three more Tests in the Ashes later this year, the record of Mohammad Yousuf record of 1,766 runs in a calendar year seems under an actual threat.
While Root has been almost single-handedly rallying England, he got decent support from the other batters on the third day. First, his Yorkshire teammate Jonny Bairstow provided the perfect support for Root. They were able to negotiate the first session on the third day without being separated, making it the first wicket-less session of the series (discounting the rain-affected sessions). A well-constructed 57-run knock by Bairstow ended in the second session after the two Yorkshire boys posted a 100-run stand after 133 partnerships together. Even though Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali scored only 23 and 27, both were a part of fifty partnerships with the skipper. A total tally of 50 runs added for wickets eight to ten saw England take the lead. Wickets were spread across three Indian bowlers and Mohammed Siraj led that group with four wickets, followed by Ishant Sharma’s three and Mohammed Shami bagged the last wicket of James Anderson.
Also read: Ton-up Joe Root helps England to first innings lead
The match is evenly poised after day three and Indian batsmen have a huge task in their hands. In recent times, the third innings has been the game-changer for teams at Lord’s. A wonderland in the second innings turns into a graveyard in the third. Batting teams have averaged 24.8 in the third innings, which is the lowest among all venues in England since 2017.
Balls not carrying to the slip fielders and even reaching the keeper close to his knees has been the hallmark of this Test. Lifting a layer, 46.7% of the dismissals in the third innings have come through bowled and LBW’s at Lord’s in the aforementioned time. A theoretical reason for such a high percentage might be because of the low bounce observed till now that might become worse.
INDIA’s BOTHERING RECORD IN THIRD INNINGS
Time and again in recent memory, India have made a mess out of their advantage in the third innings, especially in away matches. Remember Adelaide in 2020 or Christchurch 2020 or the World Test Championship final recently. In all these matches India were batting in the third innings and stumbled from a strong position. In Tests since 2019, apart from the two innings against West Indies in 2019, where they declared, in none of the other four innings have they scored over 200. Inevitably, they lost all four of these Tests. In Tests since 2019, Indian batsmen have averaged 19.5 in the third innings of an away Test. This is the third-worst for a team in the aforementioned time.
Ajinkya Rahane has an average of 43.8 in the third innings, the only batsman to average over 40 in this playing XI. India’s number three Cheteshwar Pujara (17) and number four Virat Kohli (16.8), both average less than 20 in six such innings.
However, there is always an else around. If Indian batsmen have been poor in the third innings, so have the England bowlers. In the third innings of a Test, England bowlers have bagged wickets at an average of 33.4. Since 2019, it is the third-worst among teams that have bowled in three-plus matches. Even in home Tests, they have struggled to pick wickets. Numbers apart, there will be some tired legs out there. James Anderson has already bowled 29 overs in the first innings and England will need him to bowl at least three if not four spells on the fourth day.
The weather should not be a threat in the rest of the match. But it might not be as bright as the third day either. This means nail-biting two days of Test cricket are on the cards.
