After a loss to New Zealand in the first-ever ICC World Test Championship final, India have registered their first win of the new 2021-2023 ICC World Test Championship iteration, which puts them on the top of the ICC World Test Championship 2021-2023 table.
Indian cricket team picked up an iconic win at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground over England in the 2nd match of the five match Test series by 151 runs. The winner of the match was unknown till the last moment.
Both Team India and England came expecting a draw, but it turned out to be an iconic win for India.Team India was close to winning the 1st Test as well; however, due to rain, the 5th day was completely washed out, and as a result, it ended in a draw. But India did well in the 2nd match to win a game that fans might not have expected.
ICC World Test Championship Points Table 2021–23 After 2nd (Lords) Test Between England and India pic.twitter.com/zOq3zPs05s
— Epic Cricket Comments (@CricketEpic) August 16, 2021
Joe Root won the toss, and India batted first, putting up 364 runs on the board thanks to 129 runs from KL Rahul. England managed to picked up 27 runs lead after their inning. However, the 2nd inning for India wasn’t the best, but a strong batting performance from the tailenders, Shami and Bumrah, gave India a chance to draw the match. However, England batters looked out of form, and Team India bowled them out for 120 runs in 2 sessions.
The match saw some controversial scenes as the crowd in attendance threw wine and champagne corks on RL Rahul, who fielding near the boundary. Another talking point of the match is, two English fielders were captured stepping foot on the ball, arising ball-tampering claims from Indian team’s fans.
England captain Joe Root won the toss and asked the Indian team to open the inning. The match started among some slight drizzle and interruptions. However, it was not enough to stop Team India from starting big as a big 126 runs opening partnership set up the foundation for India
Opener KL Rahul completed his century while Rohit Sharma was unlucky and got out for 83 runs. The middle-order failed for India as only Virat Kohli managed to contribute with 42 runs.
Some good innings from Ravindra Jadeja ( 40 runs of 120 balls) and Rishabh Pant (37 runs of 58 balls) ensured India end their inning with 364 runs on the board. James Anderson picked up five wickets for England. England got off to a bad start with the bat as they lost two wickets for just 23 runs and were down to 3 wickets by the end of 2nd day’s play for 119 runs. But skipper Joe Root’s excellent unbeaten 180 runs and crucial partnerships with Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, and Moeen Ali gave England 27 runs lead at the end of their 1st inning.
Mohammad Siraj was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets while Shami and Ishant Sharma picked up 2 and 3 wickets, respectively.
2nd inning of India saw not much contribution from the top four as Cheteshwar Pujara got the most runs of them with 45 runs in 200 plus balls.
Ajinkya Rahane (61 runs of 146 balls) finished as the highest run-scorer for India in the 2nd inning. However, the headline of the inning is the performance of the tailenders with the bat. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah’s 56 runs and 34 runs respectively gave India the hope of winning the match.
England crumbled in the 2nd inning as they go all out for 120 runs. Mohammad Siraj picked up four wickets in England’s 2nd inning. KL Rahul was named Man of the Match for his century in the 1st inning.
The series between India and England continues as the third Test match will take place from 25th August in Leeds.
