Some 34 minutes into the final morning, when India lost their two brightest hopes within a few overs of each other, it was a question of when rather than whether. Then, Ravindra Jadeja spearheaded a magnificent, spirited rearguard action that eventually ended in desperate heartbreak at Lord’s on an emotional Monday evening.

A third straight Test in this series went to the final session of the final day, Jadeja eking out superb resistance from Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. But in the end, top-order failings came back to haunt India, who found a target of 193 just a little beyond them. Siraj’s admirable resistance ended in unfortunate fashion when he dead-batted off-spinner Shoaib Bashir, only for the ball to roll back and behind him on to his leg-stump, helping England complete a memorable 22-run victory that gave them a 2-1 series edge.

Shoaib Bashir (centre) celebrates India’s last man Mohammed Siraj’s dismissal. Pic/Bipin Patel