Dear Lords! India fall 22 runs short after epic battle led by Jadeja; England lead series 2-1

Ravindra Jadeja did everything possible, playing a defiant knock of 61 off 181 balls that got India agonisingly close to an unlikely win at Lord's. But he was helpless at the non-striker's end as the devious Dukes ball slipped through Mohammed Siraj's guard, clipped the leg stump and took the bails off.

That was the last wicket for which England had waited for more than 13 overs. It ended a Test of epic proportions, with India falling 22 runs short of the 193-run target. England have taken a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Jadeja had fought like a warrior, tagging along the two tailenders — Jasprit Bumrah and Siraj — who weren't expected to survive the early spells post lunch, when India were 112/8.

Bumrah was the first to forge a partnership with the last recognised batter at the other end. He stood firm for 53 deliveries, making five runs, 4 of which came from a boundary. But then he fell trying to go hard at a short ball from England skipper Ben Stokes, caught at mid-on.

The end was near, only it lingered longer, till Tea and a little further. All the while, Jadeja did not hesitate to rotate the strike, letting Siraj be a participant in the epic he was initiating. The pacer struggled, nearly gifting an edge to short leg, and defending for almost two hours before Shoaib Bashir, with a broken finger, lobbed a teaser that rolled behind off backspin and ended the Indian resistance.

Earlier, the game was in a balance when players strolled out to the middle to get day five underway. India needed 135 to win and had six wickets in hand, but were soon pushed onto the backfoot as the English pacers took control of the seaming conditions. 

Jofra Archer's fiery spell began the destruction as he sent Rishabh Pant's off stump cartwheeling. Soon after, Ben Stokes ended K L Rahul's (39) resistance, trapping him leg before. It didn't take long for the English to dig deeper, removing Indian batters with ease — not quite, if you consider the effort Archer put in to grab a one-hander to send back Washington Sundar (0).

Nitish Kumar Reddy joined Jadeja, but there wasn't a counter-punch; the aim was to survive. A boundary came at the end of 13 overs when Reddy pounced on an overpitched delivery from Stokes. After withstanding the English pace for most of the first session, Reddy (13) nicked a Chris Woakes delivery. That was before lunch, but what happened after was the best India's lower order had to offer in the series, yet —something to look forward to when the series heads to Manchester for the fourth Test starting July 23.

Brief scores: England 387 & 192 bt India 387 & 170 in 74.5 overs (Jadeja 61 not out, KL Rahul 39, Stokes 3/48, Archer 3/55, Brydon Carse 2/30)