Taha Hashim reports on an extraordinary fifth-day finish at Lord’s.

At one end, Ollie Robinson is bowling knuckle-balls for fun. At the other, Mark Wood’s dodgy shoulder isn’t looking all that dodgy – he’s still bowling short-ball heat. Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are there for the taking: the former tamely chipped his second ball in the first innings to midwicket; the latter – even after hitting 28 at Trent Bridge – averages 3.55 with the bat in Test cricket. England will probably be chasing something around the 200-mark. Not much more than that. Lord’s feels calm, and it suits the side who have lost four of their last six.

And then something’s said between Bumrah and Jos Buttler. That first hint of chaos. From the very next delivery, Bumrah throws every sinew into a wild slap shaped for the leg side, but the ball bowled by Wood somehow ends up running to the boundary through point. Virat Kohli, not to be kept out of the contest, is up and about on the dressing room balcony, clapping away in support of his leading fast bowler.

The switch is flicked. Shami and Bumrah don’t go wild; they just bat. They run the singles, find the twos and inject panic with boundaries. Joe Root tries everyone: Moeen, Curran and Anderson all come on. But the scoreboard ticks on, the half-chances emerge and quickly disappear, a raucous energy builds and everyone ticks through the scenarios. How many is too many for England? Are we on our way to another draw? Wait, are India favourites? Shami answers the question when on 44 and up against Moeen: he swings towards St John’s Wood station and nearly sends it there too. Off comes the helmet and it’s there on his face – this is our match.

The declaration comes nine balls into the second session, and the clouds have converged over HQ. It’s dark, it’s chaotic and Kohli’s men exude a ruthlessness that suits the surrounding environment. Bumrah, showing no signs of wear and tear after compiling his Test-best with the bat, doesn’t even have to do anything truly special for his first wicket. Trying to just bunt the ball into the leg side, Rory Burns catches a leading edge that gifts a simple catch. It’s his fifth duck in 12 Test innings this year, and he’s the one who’s actually in good nick. Dom Sibley walks back just moments later; if Bumrah’s gonna have fun, Shami’s gonna join him.

Enter the chaos, Haseeb Hameed. You’re on a pair, playing your first Test since 2016, out of position at No.3 and you’ve got to save this Test. That sound OK? At the other end, Root takes it on. Just like he always does. He drives, pulls and moves to 20 from just 33 deliveries. We’ve seen it all before. For Hameed, it’s a different story. He survives 44 deliveries, but that’s all he can do – survive. His feet are chained to the crease, a fluent drive to get him going – to get this second chapter of his Test career ticking – isn’t coming. Instead it’s Ishant Sharma, the old warhorse, who arrives, trapping Hameed LBW for 9.

So to Jonny Bairstow, who is making a pretty decent fist of it at No.5 in his own comeback tale. With his old pal Root at the crease, maybe England will find calm through the two Yorkshiremen. Ishant, however, clips the front pad and the review gives India one more before tea. Kohli is going ballistic, pumping his arms and revelling in the sheer genius of his quicks. He wants this bad. But Root is the one he so desperately needs and Bumrah obliges with the outside edge just moments into the final session. The England captain is down on his haunches because he knows, like we all do, that his side are well and truly up against it.

Moeen Ali gives the ground its breath back. Seven days ago he was blasting it in The Hundred, but now it’s all about the forward defence. He holds and holds, but there’s still someone to come. And here he is: Mohammed Siraj. A relentless, finger-to-the-lips quick cut from the same cloth as his exuberant skipper, and truly at home in the cauldron of a thrilling fifth day.

He nicks off Moeen, and he doesn’t let up from the next ball. Sam Curran was the kid who tore it up in 2018 and shaped the series with his lower-order biffing, but Siraj doesn’t have any scars from then – he’s the new man in this attack and the edge is found once more. Curran trails off with a king pair.

The Indian fielders gather around Robinson as he begins his stay, but the No.9 can bat. He sticks in with Buttler and they hold on further as the overs left become fewer and fewer. India need something special and the answer, as always, is Bumrah. Out of the hand, from around the wicket, comes a ball that’s been cut over viciously by the fingers, the revolutions imparted to take the pace off, to hold the delivery in the air and out of the dying reach of the bat. Robinson is beaten, India review and they get those three precious reds. Now, you sense, it’s their match. Maybe it always was.

Buttler falls three balls later and James Anderson is left to India for the final, crushing blow. Siraj goes straight through the forward press, Kohli erupts under the Lord’s sun and India have given chaos a big ol’ hug. It’s confirmed: this is their match, and this really should be their series.

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