India and England walked off on Day 3 of the Lord’s Test with nothing to separate them. After one innings each, both teams finished on exactly 387 runs.
The day ended with a spark of tension. In the final over, Indian players got into a verbal exchange with England batter Zak Crawley, raising the intensity just before stumps. But most of the day had already offered a thrilling bat-and-ball contest. KL Rahul struck another classy century, while Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja made solid fifties. England hit back with quick wickets to deny India a lead.
This is only the ninth time in Test history — out of 2,594 matches — that both teams have posted the same first-innings total. The last time this happened was in 2015, in the England–New Zealand Test at Headingley.
England ended the day at 2 for 0 after getting to bat just one over in their second innings.
Rahul leads the charge
Rahul was the standout performer of the day. The 33-year-old crafted a composed 100 from 177 balls, hitting 13 boundaries.
Nine of his ten career Test centuries have come outside India — four of them in England, and two at Lord’s. Only Dilip Vengsarkar has scored more Test centuries (3) at Lord’s for India. Among visiting openers, only Bill Brown, Gordon Greenidge, and Graeme Smith have also scored multiple hundreds at this venue.
India resumed on 145 for 3, with Rahul on 53* and Pant on 19*. England couldn’t break the partnership until the very end of the first session.
Pant, playing with a finger injury he picked up while keeping, looked well on his way to a century — reaching fifty off 86 balls. Rahul moved to 98 with a single in the final over before lunch. Desperate to retain strike, he called Pant for a quick run. But Ben Stokes threw down the stumps, and Pant was run out.
That ended a 141-run stand built over 198 balls. Pant made 74 from 112 deliveries, hitting 8 fours and 2 sixes.
Those two sixes brought him level with Rohit Sharma on 88 career sixes in Tests, second most for India. Virender Sehwag leads the chart with 91. Pant also overtook Viv Richards (34 sixes in 36 Tests) to become the batter with the most sixes against England in Tests — Pant now has 36 in just 15 Tests.
He also became the first visiting wicketkeeper to score 400+ runs in a Test series in England, currently sitting on 416.
India collapse after Rahul’s ton
Rahul brought up his century in the first over after lunch but fell immediately after — caught in the slips off Shoaib Bashir.
Debutant Nitish Kumar Reddy and Jadeja took the score past 300 with a 72-run stand. Reddy made 30 off 91 balls before edging Ben Stokes to the keeper.
Jadeja built another useful partnership with Washington Sundar and reached his third straight fifty in this series — a career first.
His innings ended on 72 (131 balls, 8 fours, 1 six) when he edged Woakes to the keeper. India’s tail folded quickly after that.
Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 84. Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes took 2 wickets each in support.
Heated ending to the day
With England beginning their second innings, Jasprit Bumrah bowled the final over. After Zak Crawley took two runs, Indian captain Shubman Gill accused him of wasting time and exchanged a few words. When Crawley was hit on the glove a few deliveries later and called for the physio, Gill had more to say.
The moment added a flash of drama to an already gripping day. Still, players were seen walking off with smiles, hinting that tempers had cooled.
Score Summary
England 1st Innings: 387
India 1st Innings: (overnight 145/3) 387 all out in 119.2 overs
Top scorers: Rahul 100, Pant 74, Jadeja 72
Best bowlers: Woakes 3-84, Archer 2-52, Stokes 2-63
England 2nd Innings: 2/0 in 1 over (Crawley 2*, Duckett 0*)
