Lords of Lord's: A win after 28 years

India clinched their first Test win at the historic Lord’s in nearly three decades as they rode on Ishant Sharma’s inspired spell of fast bowling to demolish England by 95 runs and take a 1-0 lead in the five match series on Monday.

Resuming at a precarious 105 for four on the final day, the two overnight batsmen Joe Root (66) and Moeen Ali (39) batted with a lot of determination adding 101 runs in 44.4 overs before Ishant struck at the stroke of lunch.

Skipper Dhoni as usual collected a stump as souvenir as the jubilant players hugged each other with the support staff and reserve bench applauding them from the hallowed balcony.

The victory was achieved in the 89th over when James Anderson tapped a Ravindra Jadeja delivery towards short cover and set off for non-existent single but Jadeja was alert enough to pick up and break the stumps down with a direct throw triggering off ins

It also marked Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s first significant victory as Test captain outside the sub-continent. The last time India won a Test match outside the South Asian region was back in 2011 when they defeated West Indies in a 1-0 series win.

It took 28 long years for India to win a Test match at the ‘Home of Cricket’ after ‘Kapil Dev’s team achieved the feat back in June 1986 winning by five wickets.

From a relatively comfortable 173 for four, the last six wickets fell for only 50 runs with the final five coming in only 12.2 overs after lunch on an absorbing fifth day’s play.

The lanky speedster, whose consistency has always been under the scanner, delivered when it mattered most, as he grabbed a career-best 7 for 74 to bowl out the home team for a 223 in pursuit of a competitive victory target of 319.