This pivotal third Test has been an arm-wrestle and which team ends up slamming their opponents to the table is still a glorious uncertainty. The fifth day will be a short one, that much can be said, as can India being marginal favourites. But after a chaotic fourth signed off by Ben Stokes exploding off stump, England will still believe.
Set 193 to win after an inspired outing with the ball, India will resume four down in the morning and still 135 runs away from claiming a 2-1 lead with two to play. And yet if Stokes, his fellow bowlers and the Lord’s crowd recapture the cauldron-like atmosphere witnessed before the close – 17.4 overs of theatre that ended with nightwatcher Akash Deep being castled – that final ascent will be far from straightforward.
