A very exhausted but satisfied England skipper Ben Stokes on Monday reveled what was going through his mind when he ran out India’s most in-form batter in the series in Rishabh Pant in the 2nd innings of the match on Day 3. The dismissal with Pant batting at 74, turned out to be a pivotal moment of the match, the ripple effect of which was felt throughout as India lost to England by 22 runs on day 5 to go 1-2 down in the series.
“I had bowled an important spell, I was pretty pumped up, very important position at extra cover, it was one of those things, I saw Rishabh stutter in my peripheral, natural instincts took over and it is a great feeling when you let go of the ball and know that is going towards the stumps,” stokes said in the post-match interview at Lord’s.
“Big part of the game, Rishabh played really well, we all know how dangerous he can be and that wicket this morning was a big one and Jofra was the man to do it,” he added.
Even India captain Shubman Gill pointed out that run out of his vice captain was the pivotal moment that turned the match in the hosts’ favour.
“The most vital turnaround point for me was Rishabh’s runout. We could have added some more runs and the match would have been different,” he said at the post-match press conference.
In the match, Ravindra Jadeja’s heroic effort went in vain as England edged out India by 22 runs on the fifth and final day of a wildly fluctuating third Test.
The day started with India requiring 135 runs and England having to pick six wickets after setting the visitors a 193-run target. The hosts got four Indian batters out before lunch but were made to work hard for the remaining two wickets in the last two sessions. India were finally all out for 170.
Story continues below this ad
Archer (3/55) and Stokes (3/48) were the chief architects of the English victory, even as Jadeja battled hard for India with a gritty unbeaten 61.
