India stare at defeat after their batters fail to deliver

Indian batters failed to stand the test of England pacers led by Jofra Archer on a spicy day five pitch to slide to the brink of defeat in the third Test at Lord’s here on Monday.

- Agencies

Chris Woakes had Nitish Reddy caught behind at the stroke of lunch to leave India tottering at 112 for eight chasing 193.

Starting the day at 58 for four and needing another 135 runs on a rapidly deteriorating surface with variable bounce, India needed their experienced batters to fire for their fourth success at the iconic ground since 1932 but it was not to be.

The loss of Rishabh Pant (9 off 12 balls), K L Rahul (39 off 58) and Washington Sundar (0 off 4) inside the first hour made chasing 193 an improbable task for India.

The key for India was the presence of Rahul and Pant in the middle but both departed in a space of 18 balls. They needed to see out Archer's spell but the tearaway pacer struck twice in a fiery spell to put England on top.