England are hoping to whip a sell-out Lord’s crowd into a frenzy as they chase victory in what could be a thrilling finale in the third Rothesay Test against India.
Fourteen wickets fell on day four, the hosts cut down for 192 before fighting fire with fire to leave their opponents 58 for four.
Both sides are hopeful of taking a 2-1 series lead, with England hunting six more wickets and India needing 135 runs.
A magical final session of incredible theatre 😍
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 13, 2025
You can't beat Test Cricket.
All to play for tomorrow 💪 pic.twitter.com/HlT44kLWTz
And there will not be a spare seat in the house, with £25 tickets flying out of the door as 30,000 fans secured a cut-price spot at the home of cricket.
The away support has been in good voice throughout this tour but it was the English contingent who roared the loudest late on. Joe Root took on Stuart Broad’s old role as cheerleader, gesturing for a late show of support as Ben Stokes tore in to dismiss Akash Deep with the last ball of the day.
“If we can create an atmosphere like that (we will). The buzz around the ground gave the boys the lift they needed and a couple of late wickets gives us hope that we are bang on the money,” said assistant coach Marcus Trescothick.
“It might take another wicket to get it like that or for Joe to wind them up again, but the support has been brilliant throughout.
“That last hour, with the support and the energy around the ground was amazing. Everybody was invested. From an England point of view it’s brilliant. We love those situations where the crowd is really behind the team. Hopefully we get more of that tomorrow and push on to win the game.”
After the two sides traded good-natured wins at Headingley and Edgbaston, tensions have risen over the past couple of days.
Things escalated when Zak Crawley and Shubman Gill clashed over a time-wasting row on Saturday evening and Mohammed Siraj may find himself out of pocket after his angry send-off of Ben Duckett concluded with a brush of shoulders.
Trescothick insisted England had no qualms about the rising emotions.
“Both teams are passionate about playing the game and it is understandable that at times it gets to a boiling point,” he said.
“There will be things that happen between the two teams but both teams know there’s a line you can’t cross but it’s not really been troubled too much. It helps the atmosphere in the series.”
Jofra Archer strikes in his first over AGAIN! 💪 pic.twitter.com/W62BWNorl3
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 13, 2025
Spinner Washington Sundar echoed those sentiments, adding: “Aggression is always inside of us, in both dressing rooms I’d say. There was an incident that happened and it came out last evening and it came out quite a bit today as well.
“This is sport, everyone is quite aggressive and quite intense in their own way. If you’re an athlete it’s a common factor.”
England’s own off-spinner Shoaib Bashir batted at the end of the innings but did not take the field with his team-mates as he continues to protect an injury to the little finger of his left hand.
Trescothick confirmed that he had been cleared to bowl on day five but could continue to use a substitute fielder.
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