Carse and Stokes inspire hope for England following Lord's collapse

Brydon Carse and Ben Stokes struck late on day four to offer England hope against India in the third Test, after the hosts had collapsed earlier in the day.

An enticing second-innings shootout was in the offing at Lord's as England resumed with a slender two-run advantage.

The second Test at Edgbaston had been a battle of the batsmen, but the bowlers reigned supreme on Sunday, starting with Mohammed Siraj and Washington Sundar.

Siraj took both England openers, having Ben Duckett caught by Jasprit Bumrah for 22, then trapping Ollie Pope (four) lbw upon appeal, and he celebrated the first wicket by yelling in Duckett's face, prompting a chat with the umpires.

Further wickets from Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep dropped England to 87-4, but Stokes stitched together a 67-run partnership with Joe Root after Harry Brook fell for 23.

That steadied England somewhat, but Washington, determined to outdo his fellow bowlers, took centre-stage as India took the hosts' final six wickets for a mere 38 runs.

He finished with figures of 4-22, dismissing Root (40), Jamie Smith (eight) and Stokes (33) in succession, then later finishing the innings with a clever delivery that deceived Shoaib Bashir (two) to strike off stump.

India would have been supremely confident of chasing a target of 193, particularly after amassing 1,014 runs across both innings of the second Test. However, a brilliant late burst from Carse introduced some jeopardy.

After Jofra Archer had Yashasvi Jaiswal caught for a duck, Carse pinned Karun Nair (14) and visiting captain Shubman Gill (six), with the latter's dismissal confirmed after a hopeful review.

Having reached 54-3 by the final ball, India remained in a strong position, but nightwatchman Deep (one) saw his off stump clattered by Stokes' delivery in a dramatic finish.

After a thrilling day, India require 135 runs for victory, with England needing six wickets.

A magical final session of incredible theatre You can't beat Test Cricket.All to play for tomorrow pic.twitter.com/HlT44kLWTz
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 13, 2025

Data Debrief: Washington's wizardry

Though England's late wickets may have introduced a few nerves, India remain favourites to take a 2-1 lead in the series, thanks in large part to the bowling of Washington.

His figures of 4-22 were his second-best in any red-ball innings, having taken 7-59 against New Zealand in Pune last October.

Later on, there was a landmark moment for skipper Gill, as he surpassed Rahul Dravid's record (602, set in 2002) for the most runs by an Indian batter in a single Test series in England.

But after slamming 585 runs over the first two Tests, Gill only managed 22 here before being trapped lbw by Carse.

England will hope their late flurry of wickets can act as a turning point, as they chase a third successive Test win at Lord's – something they last achieved when winning four straight between May 2009 and August 2010.