WATCH: Mohammed Shami unfurls a drool-worthy, perfect cover drive off Moeen Ali
As the second Test match between England and India at Lord’s went into the fifth day, England had their noses ahead. India were 181/6 and had a lead of 154 runs. Rishabh Pant was the only recognised batter in the middle and India had four potential No. 11s. Hence, India would’ve pinned all their hopes on Pant to get them closer to a lead of 200.
However, all that would’ve faded away as Pant was dismissed in the fourth over of the day. The left-handed wicket-keeper batsman did smash an audacious boundary off James Anderson but he couldn’t last long. He nicked one off Ollie Robinson to leave India in trouble at 194/7.
Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami shared a handy 15-run stand before Robinson foxed Ishant with a clever slower delivery and pinned him LBW. At 209/8, the end seemed nigh for India with just Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj left to bat.
But India defied the odds as the pair of Shami and Bumrah batted beautifully to stretch India’s lead to a stunning 259. They shared a fantastic stand which worth 77 runs now and yet to be broken (for the ninth wicket) as the fast bowling duo continued to frustrate the England bowlers with the bat.
Both batters unfurled a few stunning shots. Bumrah smashed a couple of straight drives but couldn’t get a boundary on any of the occasions as the ball hit the stumps at the bowler’s end. Shami was nailing the cover drives against the pacers but couldn’t really find the gap. Both of them were tight in their defence as well and constantly rotated the strike to keep the scoreboard ticking.
One of the fans on Twitter (@CricCrazySatvik) upload the video and you can watch the video here:
Shami hits cover drive#ENGvIND #ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/PpInPtphxR
— Satvik (Ardent Cricket Follower) (@CricCrazySatvik) August 16, 2021
In fact, Shami notched up his half-century as well, his second in his Test carer, both of which have come against England. He played some exquisite shots. There was one occasion when Shami unfurled a magnificent cover-drive against Moeen Ali that fetched him a boundary as well. It was a Virat Kohli-esque, a drool-worthy and a picture-perfect cover drive. Shami is currently unbeaten on 52 at the moment and it is his highest Test score.
Note: All scores, runs and stats updated till the end of the first session of day five.