India believe after Ishant leaves England hurting

India's pacers ripped through England's top order to leave the hosts reeling at Tea on the fifth day of the Lord's Test. Chasing 272 for a win, Joe Root's team was reduced to 67 for 4 with one session to play out.

India declared their second innings only nine balls post Lunch, in which Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah had added three more boundaries to their half-century stand that had already sucked away the momentum from England. The duo then returned to further trouble England, dismissing both their openers - Rory Burns and Dom Sibley - for ducks.

India could have added another to their tally early when Shami induced the outside edge of Haseeb Hameed's bat, but Rohit Sharma put down an easy chance at slips. Nonetheless, that was not to trouble the visitors much, as Hameed - who had returned to the Test side after five years - was eventually trapped leg before by Ishant Sharma on 9.

Yet again, the burden of carrying the hopes of England's batting fell on Joe Root, who looked comfortable against the new ball even as the rest of his teammates continued to struggle. England were helped with the over-zealous pacers spraying the ball around a bit, conceding 17 byes in the session.

To further add to their woes, Jonny Bairstow was trapped leg before at the stroke of Tea. Even as Michael Gough ruled him not out, India decided to chance on a review and had the decision overturned.

Much of India's momentum though was gained in the morning session, where they picked 105 runs despite losing Rishabh Pant in the third over of the day. The left-hander, who had made his intent clear to attack with a powerful punch through the covers against James Anderson, fell fending at a delivery by Ollie Robinson angling away from him. He got a nick to the 'keeper and exposed India's long-tail against the new ball.

Ishant Sharma, the other overnight batter, shifted from his conventional defensive gear and stroked a couple of boundaries before getting trapped lbw by Robinson. With only two more wickets to take, Root decided to rest his premier seamer Anderson and brought Mark Wood, his fastest bowler, into the attack. However, Shami and Bumrah's attacking display threw England's plans out of the window. They picked quick runs and shifted the momentum in India's favour.

Even as the ball was shiny and hard, Root decided to bring Moeen Ali into the attack and offer the two batsmen a chance to go after the offspinner. While Bumrah defended him of the front foot, Shami took the bait. However, instead of the move working in England's favour, it backfired. Shami smashed a few boundaries and sixes and brought up his second Test half-century.

The unbeaten 89-run partnership allowed India's score to swell to 298 for 8 before they could declare the innings and push for a win, with nearly two sessions of play.

Brief Scores: India 364 (KL Rahul 129, Rohit Sharma 83; James Anderson 5-62, Ollie Robinson 2-73) & 298/8 decl. (Ajinkya Rahane 61, Mohammed Shami 56*; Mark Wood 3-51, Ollie Robinson 2-41) lead England 391 (Joe Root 180*, Jonny Bairstow 57; Mohammad Siraj 4-94, Ishant Sharma 3-69) & 67/4 (Joe Root 33*; Ishant Sharma 2-6) by 205 runs.