Bashir injured after felling centurion Rahul as India close in on England’s total

LONDON: A direct throw by Ben Stokes got Rishabh Pant run out and centurion KL Rahul edged Shoaib Bashir’s flighted ball to slip as a struggling India reached 316-5 at tea on day three at Lord’s on Saturday, 71 behind England’s first-innings total of 387.

Spinner Bashir’s introduction to complement the pacers bowling from the other end got England the breakthrough after India started well, ending a crucial 141-run partnership between Rahul and Pant that steadied India’s innings as they resumed from an overnight score of 145-3.

But Bashir had to leave the ground when he injured a finger on his non-bowling left hand while trying to stop Ravindra Jadeja’s shot down the wicket on his own bowling.

The five-match series remains tied as both sides look to go 2-1 up with a win in the third test.

Left-handed batter Pant, who scored twin centuries in the first of the five-test series, battled through an injury on a finger on his left hand as he hooked England captain Stokes for six to bring up his fifty.

The 27-year-old hit Bashir for a six down the ground shortly before an awkward hook on Stokes almost got him caught near the fine leg boundary, where a diving Zak Crawley did well to lob the ball back inside the boundary, preventing a six.

But Pant was run out for 74 in the next over, trying to take a quick single as he loosely played Bashir towards cover point, where Stokes made a quick turn to hit the stumps on the non-striker’s end with a swift, direct throw.

Pant run out at stroke of lunch as India close in on England’s total

Opener Rahul reached his second century of the series soon after lunch but fell to Bashir on the very next ball for 100, leaving India on shaky ground at 254-5 under a warm London sun.

Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy, new to the crease, looked unsteady as England’s bowlers piled on the pressure. Mix-ups between the batters put Reddy at risk of getting run out on two occasions but Ollie Pope’s direct throws missed the target both times.

However, the persistent pair settled in as England returned to using two pacers soon after Bashir’s injury, and held on until tea, adding 62 runs to their unbeaten sixth-wicket partnership, with Jadeja at 40 and Reddy contributing 25.