The fourth day of the third Test match being played between India and England at Lord’s has reached an exciting turn. Former Indian cricketer and analyst Sanjay Manjrekar has changed his prediction and now called England the strong contender to win the match. According to Sanjay Manjrekar, now the match is in favor of England in the ratio of 70-30.
Sanjay Manjrekar explains state of Lord’s Test after four days giving England a slight advantage ahead of India due to acquaintance to the pitch and conditions .
England has given India a target of 193 runs to win. By the end of the fourth day’s play, India scored 58 runs, but lost 4 wickets. Now Team India needs 135 runs to win, while only 6 wickets are remaining.
Once again, for the third match in the series, we go into Day 5 with it being anyone’s game! India were favourites with the fourth innings starting, but they saw four wickets fall in just 17.4 overs at the end of day’s play to give England a very good look in. With the pitch offering something, those 135 remaining runs still look like a lot to get — KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will start off tomorrow.
Lord’s Test tantalisingly poised heading into Day 5 with chances of win in offer to both England and India
Washington Sundar’s four-wicket haul, well-supported by the pacers, helped India bowl England out for 192 early in the final session on Day 4 of the Lord’s Test. Introduced only in the second half of the afternoon session, the offspinner struck key blows as he finished with career-best overseas figures of 4 for 22. India, however, suffered early setbacks in their chase of 193, with Brydon Carse leading the charge, as the visitors went into Stumps at 58 for 4 with KL Rahul unbeaten on 33.
Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer didn’t make life easy for the Indian openers on a pitch offering inconsistent bounce. Woakes set the tone in the opening over by troubling Yashasvi Jaiswal, who fell for a duck while attempting to pull an Archer delivery that climbed sharply. Rahul glanced Archer for an early boundary but was tested repeatedly, even offering a return catch that Woakes couldn’t hold on to.
Despite the pressure, Rahul capitalised on scoring opportunities, punching and driving Woakes for a couple of fours and guiding another Archer delivery to the boundary. Karun Nair also picked up a few runs off Archer, including a cover drive for a four, as the second-wicket pair steadied India after a frenetic start to their chase.
Ben Stokes brought himself on as first change and Rahul played with soft hands past slips for another boundary, although there was one in the same over that took off and nearly clipped the edge of Rahul’s bat. Carse was getting the ball to swing away and after Nair played and missed outside off, he decided to shoulder arms to a delivery that came in and was out LBW for 15. Shubman Gill had a jittery start, missing a couple of Carse deliveries while attempting to drive before getting off the mark with a cover drive for a couple.
In Carse’s next over, Gill got a caught-behind decision overturned with the use of DRS and then put away a full toss for a four. But he also cost India a review soon after as he fell for 6, trapped in front by a Carse delivery that nipped back in. Umpire’s call saved nightwatchman Akash Deep from getting out leg-before to Carse and adding to the drama, the batter sought help from the physio to get some strapping. The engrossing day’s play ended with Stokes cleaning up Akash as England bounced back strongly into the game after folding under 200.
Factors for India to take into consideration to win at Lords on Day 5
- Responsibility of Rahul and Pant:Â Â KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant now have a big responsibility to take the team to victory.
- Pitch Behavior:Â Â The pitch is providing swing and bounce with the new ball, which is beneficial for the England bowlers.
- Mental pressure:Â Â There is pressure of target on the young batsmen of India, due to which there is a danger of taking wrong shots.
Citing the above factors, former Sanjay Manjrekar changed his former prediction of an Indian win to 30 percent in comparison to England’s 70.
Sanjay Manjrekar predicts 70-30 scoreline as win prediction in favour of England on Day 5 at Lords
Day 5 of the third Test between India and England promises to be a mouth-watering affair at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground as both teams look to take the lead in the five-match series. India need another 135 runs to emerge victorious but they only have six wickets in hand.
After England were bowled out for 192 in their second innings, India had to chase down a 193-run target and many experts reckoned that the tourists were the favourites to get the win. However, England have been exemplary with their bowling and field placements to have India at 58/4 at Stumps on Day 4.
While some balls have misbehaved, staying up and down, the surface has generally not been a difficult one for batters who are willing to play with a proactive approach. While this will give India some confidence, the fact that the ball is not too old should keep England interested.
Sanjay Manjrekar said that India were the favourites at the end of Day 3 but the tables have turned in favour of England heading into Day 5. The former India batter feels that if England have to bowl Shoaib Bashir, India could have a very good chance of winning the match. Sanjay Manjrekar mentioned that the young Indian batters would have to be in a good space mentally to help the visitors get the win.
“Yesterday, I firmly believed that there was no way India could lose this match. The only loser possible was England and a drawn scenario. But I believe now England are favorites. I would say 70-30 in England’s favor, only because this ball is still hard and new. We saw what happened in that morning session when India bowled on that pitch. This pitch reacts to the new ball,” Sanjay Manjrekar said during a discussion on ESPNcricinfo.
“If England are forced to go to Shoaib Bashir, it means India is winning the game. That will happen only if Pant and KL Rahul bat out of their skins. I only worry with one aspect. Because this young batting line-up has done so much of batting, the mental reserves of their batting has been tapped into so heavily, this effort is going to be a mental effort.
The target is small, so there will be a huge temptation to take the additional risk. I just want India to grind away and get to the target,” the former batter Sanjay Manjrekar concluded.
India are 58 for 4 at the end of Day 4 and poised for an intruiging finish needing 135 runs more to taste victory at Lords in pursuit of 192 runs target set by England which makes Day 5 at Lords a must delightful watch.
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