England’s innings stumbled early on day one of the third Test against India at Lord’s, after both openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett departed within the space of three deliveries, undoing what had seemed a steady start. The hosts were left reeling at 49 for 2, with Joe Root and Ollie Pope tasked with steering the innings back on track.
Duckett was the first to fall in the 14th over, chasing a delivery down the leg side off Nitish Kumar Reddy. The ball lacked the pace to carry through, and in his attempt to nudge it towards the boundary, Duckett only managed a faint glove, which was comfortably taken by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.
Nitish Kumar Reddy sends England`s openers packing 💥#SonySportsNetwork #GroundTumharaJeetHamari #ENGvIND #NayaIndia #DhaakadIndia #TeamIndia #ExtraaaInnings pic.twitter.com/1L6fWYd126
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) July 10, 2025
Three balls later, Crawley’s tentative stay came to an end. Having already enjoyed slices of fortune earlier, the 27-year-old could not survive Reddy’s probing line. The delivery straightened just enough with extra bounce, flicking Crawley’s gloves on its way to Pant, who completed his second catch in the over.
Reddy, who had barely bowled in the second Test, exploited the Lord’s surface cleverly, shifting momentum firmly in India’s favour. His double strike in the same over transformed what had looked like a platform for England into a precarious situation. The hosts, who had hoped to capitalise on winning the toss and batting first under decent overhead conditions, suddenly found themselves on the defensive.
Earlier, England captain Ben Stokes called correctly at the toss and opted to bat, looking to seize the initiative in the pivotal third match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series. India, however, were bolstered by the return of their pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who replaced Prasidh Krishna after being rested for the second Test in Birmingham. England, meanwhile, handed Jofra Archer his first Test appearance since February 2021, bringing him in for Josh Tongue.
The series stands tantalisingly poised at 1-1. England had drawn first blood with a commanding performance in Leeds, before India roared back with a crushing 336-run victory at Edgbaston, ending a 63-year drought at the venue. With the honours even, both teams arrived at Lord’s aware of the significance of seizing the advantage in what has been a fiercely contested five-match rubber.
