London [UK], July 13 : Washington Sundar spun England into trouble by scything priceless wickets of Joe Root and Jamie Smith to put India in the driver's seat after a pulsating second session of Day 4 in the third Test at Lord's on Sunday.
At the stroke of tea, England crawled to 175/6 in 52 overs with captain Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes unbeaten with scores of 27(83) and 8(23), respectively.
Root and Stokes resumed their grind while Indian quicks hunted in packs for the breakthrough. Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj bowled in tandem, barreled in to induce false shots, but returned empty-handed. While pacers couldn't collect the reward for all their hard work, off-spinner Sundar took the mantle and broke the 67-run partnership by exploiting the rough to his advantage.
The sweep shot came back to haunt England after Sundar managed to sneak the ball past Root's swinging blade to rattle the exposed leg stump. As Root returned on 40(96), Jamie Smith joined hands with Stokes to stitch England's return.
The in-form Jamie Smith lasted just 14 balls after Sundar intensified the pressure. He made Smith rush to defend the ball. Smith played for the turn, but the ball kept straight and crashed into the stumps, forcing the 23-year-old to return cheaply on 8(14).
Throughout the second session, fortune favoured Root, but he failed to make the most of it. On the first ball after lunch, Root received an unprecedented lifeline after Akash Deep lured the talismanic English batter to give away an edge. However, wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel failed to pouch it, and even if he did, it would have gone in vain after umpire Paul Reiffel indicated a foot no-ball.
In the 38th over, Root survived a close call for the second time, after he tried to shuffle across but got pinned by Siraj in front of the middle stump. After the umpire turned down India's lively appeal, India captain Shubman Gill decided to take the decision upstairs. The review showed that the ball brushed the leg stump, which ensured Root's survival, due to the umpire's call.
The hosts showed signs of returning unscathed, but Sundar brought thunder down the ground by casting a spell with his spin craft. He forced England to switch from 'Bazball' to a defensive brand of cricket.
Earlier, England started Day 4 on 2/0 with Zak Crawley (2) and Ben Duckett (0*) unbeaten on the crease. Mohammed Siraj gave the host an early blow as he removed Duckett for 12 in the 6th over, and Ollie Pope joined Crawley in the middle.
Just before drinks in the first session, Siraj grabbed his second wicket of the innings by removing Pope for just four. At drinks, England were 42/2 with Zak Crawley 17 (43) unbeaten on the crease.
Joe Root joined Crawley in the middle, and England crossed the 50-run mark in the 15th over after Root pushed the ball towards deep point for a single. Nitish Kumar Reddy removed Crawley for 22 runs off 49 balls, including four fours.
Crawley's drought for runs in the series continues. Harry Brook came to the crease after Crawley's wicket.
Brook took on Indian bowlers as he hurried on to 23 off just 17 balls. Akash Deep took his first wicket of the match as he cleaned up Brook for 23, and England skipper Ben Stokes joined Root in the middle.
Earlier in the match, Opener KL Rahul's ton and left-hand batter Ravindra Jadeja's 72 helped India to level the score at 387 on Saturday at Lord's, which was also set up by England in the first innings of the Test match.
England's skipper Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first. Batting first, the Three Lions scored 387 runs thanks to a century stand between Root (104) and Ollie Pope (44) and a counter-attacking 82-run stand between Brydon Carse and Jamie Smith, who both struck fifties down the order.
Brief Scores: England: 387 & 175/6 (Joe Root 40, Ben Stokes 27*; Washington Sundar 2/13) vs India: 387 (KL Rahul 100, Rishabh Pant 74; Chris Woakes 3/84).