England hold nerve to seal thriller

ENGLAND beat India by 22 runs to win a thrilling third Test at Lord’s on Monday, taking a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

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India were on the brink of defeat at 147/9, still needing a further 46 runs to reach a victory target of 193, when last man Mohammed Siraj joined Ravindra Jadeja in the middle. Nevertheless, the pair batted on until after tea on the final day to give India hope of an improbable win.

But with India in sight of just their fourth win in 20 Tests at Lord’s, Siraj played on to off-spinner Shoaib Bashir — off the field for much of the match with a finger injury — with the ball just dislodging the leg bail, to the batsman’s visible despair.

Jadeja was left stranded on 61 not out — the all-rounder’s fourth consecutive fifty of the series — after taking India to the brink of what would have been a stunning success before they were all out for 170.

England captain Ben Stokes bowled two lengthy spells on Monday, finishing with figures of 3-48, while fast bowler Jofra Archer — playing his first Test in over four years after an injury-induced exile — took 3/55.