Reddy Dismisses Both England Openers In One Over: The India vs England 3rd Test got off to a compelling start at the historic Lord’s cricket ground on Thursday, with Ben Stokes, the host captain, winning the toss and electing to bat first. This was only the second time since he took over the full-time captaincy in 2022 that Stokes had elected to bat first in a home Test.
However, England weren’t Bazballing in the first session of the 3rd Test of the India vs England Test. To put it precisely, they weren’t allowed to by the Indian pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Akash Deep, and Mohammed Siraj and medium-pace all-rounder Nitish Reddy.
The fact that Ben Duckett managed a strike rate of only 57 tells the story of the tight grip the Indian seamers had on the England batsmen.
In the first session, England managed 83 runs for the loss of both their openers in 25 overs, a run rate of 3.32, which is usual for any other team but unusual for the Bazballers. This is a further testament to the accuracy of the Indian pacers on show in the first session at Lord’s.
Interestingly, while the England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley survived the first 13 overs from Bumrah, Siraj, and Akash Deep, the duo was dismissed by the medium pace of Nitish Reddy, whose position in the XI is under doubt, and in his first over of the match.
Reddy, who proved his mettle as a batsman in Australia, today showed some of his ability with the ball. While he got Ben Duckett with plenty of luck, with the left-hander nicking behind a leg-side delivery through to Rishabh Pant, his wicket ball to Crawley was a peach.
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Reddy sent down a back-of-length delivery angling into Crawley, with the ball pitching just outside the off-stump and straightening and rising a touch, belying Reddy’s medium pace. Crawley seemed to have been taken a bit by surprise by the extra bounce and managed a tentative poke at it, resulting in a soft edge that was comfortably taken by Pant. It was a proper wicket-taking ball from the all-rounder.
Reddy bowled a crucial spell of five overs before lunch, in which he took two wickets and conceded only 15 runs. The England openers would have hoped to target Reddy and collect some quick runs, but the all-rounder displayed brilliant bowling nous to dismiss them and also keep a leash on Joe Root and Ollie Pope.
The Indian fans too were left surprised by Reddy’s wicket-taking ability, especially while being the only Indian bowler to take any wicket in the first session.
IND vc ENG Lords Test: Fans React As Nitish Reddy Dismisses Both England Openers In One Over
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