Brilliant drama, great theatre & red-blooded contest: Atherton reflects on last-over drama at Lord's

London, July 13 (IANS) Former England captain Mike Atherton reflected on the final over where India’s captain Shubman Gill had a fiery exchange with Zak Crawley for the latter's cheeky delaying tactics during the final minutes on Day 3 of Lord's Test, saying he loved watching the "brilliant drama" and the "fantastic end to a nip-and-tuck day".

With 10 minutes left at the end of day three’s play on Saturday, Crawley was wasting time on the crease, pulling away four times before facing the third ball from Jasprit Bumrah that made Gill run from the slips, hurling verbals at Crawley and Ben Duckett. Mohammed Siraj also had a chirp.

Crawley was then hit on the glove, so he took a moment to take off his glove to check his hand and gestured for the physio to come on. Things began to heat up again as Gill made a sarcastic clap and gestured towards the pavilion, even as Crawley was checked for his injury, before being beaten by a seaming away delivery from Bumrah to end a day’s play.

"There was chit-chat but I didn't mind that. It was a red-blooded contest and you have to give players a bit of leeway. I loved watching it and thought it was a fantastic end to a nip-and-tuck day. Brilliant drama, great theatre," Atherton said on Sky Sports.

His fellow commentator, former England captain Nasser Hussain added, "Box-office stuff at Lord's. A hot day got a little bit heated towards the end."

Former India wicketkeeper batter Dinesh Karthik also chuckled his way through the feisty closing stages while on commentary, adding, "Exactly what you want to see. The aggression, the passion, both teams wanting to win real bad and going hard at each other."

However, after the end of the day England coaching consultant Tim Southee shared an update on Crawley, saying, "Zak will be assessed overnight and hopefully he will be alright to carry on tomorrow."

"Both sides have played some good cricket and in a good spirit, and tonight was just a bit of energy towards the end of the day. It's been a long three days, and it was good to see the energy still there from both sides," he added.

--IANS

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