Date: July 23rd, 2011.
Location: Lord's Cricket Ground.
Session: Morning.
Score: India 35/0.
The sun was out. It was a rare, beautiful English summer morning. The pitch had flattened out slightly, but the threat of James Anderson swinging the Duke ball from the Pavilion End remained the ultimate test for any batsman.
Siddanth Deva stood at the non-striker's end, stretching his stiff back. He had spent the night in an ice bath, his muscles screaming from the bowling workload. [Perfect Rhythm] had done its job mentally, but physically, he was running on reserves.
Abhinav Mukund took strike. The young opener looked determined.
The first hour was a battle of attrition. Anderson and Chris Tremlett bowled tight channels. Deva and Mukund left well. They respected the good balls. The score ticked over slowly.
50 partnership comes up.
Mukund played a beautiful square drive off Stuart Broad to move to 48. He looked set for a fifty at Lord's.
Over 22: Stuart Broad to Mukund
Broad went round the wicket. He angled a delivery into the ribs.
Mukund tried to tuck it down to fine leg. He got a faint inside edge.
The ball ricocheted onto the stumps.
Clatter.
Commentary (David Lloyd): "Oh, he's dragged it on! Heartbreak for the young man! Abhinav Mukund played so well for his 48, but Broad finds a way! India lose their first wicket at 63."
WICKET (Mukund 48).
The applause for Mukund was polite. The applause for the next man was reverence.
Rahul Dravid walked out. The Wall.
He met Deva in the middle.
"Good start, Sid," Dravid said, tapping the pitch. "The ball is doing a bit off the seam. Play close to the body."
"Got it, Jammy bhai," Deva nodded.
What followed was a partnership of contrasting styles. Dravid was the anchor—defending, leaving, grinding the bowlers down. Deva was the engine—punishing anything loose, running hard, turning defense into attack.
Deva reached his 50 with a flick off his pads against Graeme Swann.
He acknowledged the applause, but he didn't smile. He knew the job was half done.
Lunch Day 3: India 130/1.Deva: 72*. Dravid: 10*.
After lunch, Deva decided to shift gears. The sun was baking the pitch. The swing had disappeared.
Over 45: James Anderson to Deva
Anderson tried a bouncer.
Deva hooked. He didn't keep it down. He hit it high over backward square leg.
It landed in the stands.
SIX.
Commentary (Michael Atherton): "That is a statement! He's telling Anderson he isn't afraid of the short ball! He moves into the 80s."
Deva played a series of exquisite cover drives. He moved to 96.
The crowd at Lord's sensed history. A young man, on his first tour, opening the batting after taking 3 wickets.
Over 52: Graeme Swann to Deva
Swann tossed it up.
Deva stepped out. He didn't slog. He lofted it straight back over the bowler's head.
Pure timing.
The ball bounced once and hit the sightscreen.
FOUR.
HUNDRED FOR SIDDANTH DEVA.
The Lord's crowd stood up. It was a standing ovation that lasted a full minute.
Deva took off his helmet. He was sweating profusely.
He raised his bat to the crowd. Then, he turned to the Indian dressing room.
He pointed his bat at the balcony where Dhoni and Fletcher were clapping.
He tapped the crest on his chest.
Then, he pointed his bat at the ground. I am here. I belong here.
Commentary (Ravi Shastri): "Remember the name Siddanth Deva! A century at the Home of Cricket! His name goes up on the Honours Board! What a performance! He has bowled, he has fielded, and now he has conquered Lord's with the bat! 100 off 148 balls!"
Dravid walked up and hugged him. "Well played, son. Now make it a daddy hundred."
Deva didn't stop. He accelerated. He hit Swann out of the attack. He drove Broad through the covers. He pulled Tremlett.
He reached 150 with a cut shot past point.
But the fatigue was setting in. He had been on the field for almost three days straight. His footwork was getting slightly sluggish.
Over 68: Stuart Broad to Deva
Broad bowled a wide half-volley. A ball Deva would usually smash.
Deva threw his hands at it. His feet didn't move towards the ball.
A thick outside edge.
The ball flew to Matt Prior behind the stumps.
Caught.
Commentary (Nasser Hussain): "Gone! Broad gets the breakthrough! A lapse in concentration, perhaps fatigue kicking in. But what an innings! 153 runs! Siddanth Deva walks off to a standing ovation from the Lord's faithful. They know they have seen something special."
WICKET (Deva 153).
India: 270/2.
With Deva gone, the English bowlers sensed an opening. The new ball was due soon.
Sachin Tendulkar walked in. The crowd roared for the Little Master. They wanted his 100th hundred.
But it wasn't to be.
Over 74: Anderson found the edge. Caught at slip.
WICKET (Sachin 16).
India: 295/3.
VVS Laxman came and went quickly, trapped LBW by Tremlett for 10.
India: 310/4.
Suddenly, India was wobbling. But Rahul Dravid was still there. The Wall stood firm. He reached his own century late in the evening session—a gritty, determined knock that saved India from a collapse.
Stumps, Day 3.
Score: India 338/4.
Rahul Dravid: 103*.
Suresh Raina: 8*.
England 1st Innings: 342.
India 1st Innings: 338/4 (Deva 153, Dravid 103*, Mukund 48).
India trails by 4 runs with 6 wickets in hand.
Sunil Gavaskar: "India is in a commanding position. Only 4 runs behind. If Dravid and Raina can bat for a session tomorrow, India will look to build a lead of 150-200. Deva's innings was the difference today."
---
Date: July 24th, 2011.
Location: Lord's Cricket Ground.
Session: Morning.
Score: India 338/4.
Trail by: 4 runs.
Day 4 began with massive anticipation. With Rahul Dravid on 103* and Suresh Raina at the crease, India looked poised to build a substantial lead. The sun was hiding behind heavy clouds, offering James Anderson the swing conditions he craved, but the deficit was almost erased.
Siddanth Deva, nursing a sore shoulder from his 153-run marathon, sat on the balcony, watching. He had done his job with the bat. Now, he prayed for the middle order to support The Wall.
It was a vain prayer. The morning session became a procession.
Over 82: The second new ball was taken immediately.
Anderson produced a jagged inswinger first up.
Raina played across the line. Plumb LBW.
WICKET (Raina 10).
MS Dhoni walked out. The Captain. He played a few aggressive shots, crunching two boundaries, but the discipline of the English bowlers was relentless.
Over 88:Chris Tremlett got one to bounce steeply. Dhoni poked at it. Caught in the gully.
WICKET (Dhoni 28).
From 350/5, the slide was rapid.
Harbhajan Singh edged to slip (0).
Praveen Kumar was cleaned up by Broad (2).
Ishant Sharma tried to hang around but was trapped LBW by Swann (0).
At the other end, Rahul Dravid stood like a monument to patience. He didn't flinch. He played every ball on its merit, unbeaten, unbowed.
Zaheer Khan (injured) did not come out to bat.
India All Out: 352
Rahul Dravid: 117*
Lead: 10 runs
Commentary (Sunil Gavaskar): "A lead of 10 runs. It is psychological more than substantial. A collapse of 6 wickets for just 14 runs this morning! Only Dravid stood firm. But now, the bowlers have to step up without Zaheer Khan."
The Indian team walked out. The mood was fierce. They had a slender lead, but they were a bowler short.
"Sid," Dhoni tossed the new ball to Deva. "You are the spearhead now. Give me everything."
Deva caught the ball. He rubbed it on his trousers. He looked at Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook.
Praveen Kumar opened from the Pavilion End. He was swinging it hoop-snake.
Over 4: Praveen Kumar to Alastair Cook.
Cook was tentative. The deficit of 10 runs was playing on his mind.
PK bowled a beautiful outswinger.
Cook pushed at it.
Edge.
The ball flew fast and low to the left of the slip cordon. It was dying on the way to second slip.
Siddanth Deva, fielding at second slip (replacing Laxman who had a stiff back), reacted.
He saw the rotation. He saw the dip.
He dived to his left, horizontal to the ground. He didn't catch it with two hands; he snatched it with his left hand inches from the grass.
He rolled over, holding the ball up.
Commentary (David Lloyd): "OH, WHAT A CATCH! ABSOLUTE BLINDER! The young man can do no wrong! Alastair Cook cannot believe it! India strikes early!"
WICKET (Cook 1).
England: 5/1. (Still trailing by 5).
Deva came on to bowl from the Nursery End in the 6th over. He wanted wickets.
Over 6: Deva to Jonathan Trott
6.1: Deva steamed in. 145 kmph.
Good length. Trott defended.
6.2: Bouncer. Trott ducked.
6.3: Deva went wide on the crease. He angled it in.
The ball hit the seam and jagged away.
Trott, usually so organized, was squared up completely.
The ball shaved the off-stump.
6.4: Deva repeated the delivery. Same line. Same length.
But this time, he rolled his fingers slightly. Wobble seam.
Trott played for the movement away. The ball held its line.
It took the outside edge.
Dhoni took a simple catch.
Commentary (Nasser Hussain): "He's got him! The Wall of England is breached! Siddanth Deva gets Trott! That was a heavy ball, hit the bat hard. England are 2 down and they haven't even wiped off the deficit yet!"
WICKET (Trott 2).
England: 9/2. (Still trailing by 1).
Kevin Pietersen walked in. The battle resumed. Deva vs KP.
Deva bowled a hostile spell. He hit KP on the pads. He beat the bat. But KP counter-attacked, hitting two boundaries to take England into the lead.
By Tea, England had stabilized slightly to 60/2. Strauss and KP were building a partnership.
Post-Tea, Dhoni threw the ball back to Deva.
Over 28: Deva to Andrew Strauss
Strauss was batting on 30. He looked set.
27.3: Deva ran in. He went round the wicket.
He aimed for the rough created by the bowlers' footmarks.
The ball landed, kicked up, and followed Strauss.
Strauss tried to fend it off his hips.
He got a glove.
The ball lobbed up to leg slip where Virat Kohli (fielding sub) was waiting.
Commentary (Ravi Shastri): "Strangled him! Deva goes round the wicket, uses the angle, and gets the England Captain! That is smart bowling! England are 3 down for 65! The lead is only 55!"
WICKET (Strauss 32).
With 3 wickets down and a lead of barely 60, England panicked.
Ian Bell came in. He looked nervous against Ishant Sharma's bounce.
Over 35: Ishant got Bell to edge one to Dhoni.
WICKET (Bell 10).
Kevin Pietersen fought a lone battle. He scored a gritty 50, attacking the spinners.
But late in the day, Harbhajan Singh trapped him LBW with a doosra.
WICKET (Pietersen 55).
Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior survived the last few overs against the fading light and a rampaging Deva.
Stumps, Day 4.
Score: England 124/5.
Lead: 114 runs.
Siddanth Deva: 14-4-38-2
The players walked off. The Indian team was buzzing. They had England on the mat.
Post-Match Analysis (Studio):
Sunil Gavaskar: "India is in the driver's seat. A lead of 114 with only 5 wickets in hand? If they get England out for 150-160, India wins this Test match tomorrow. Deva's spell after tea changed the game."
In the Dressing Room:
Deva sat down, exhausted. His body was a map of aches.
Dhoni walked by. "One more day, Sid. One more big push. We can win at Lord's."
Deva looked at the Honours Board where his name was freshly painted under 'Centuries'. He wanted his name on the other board too—'Five Wicket Hauls'. Maybe tomorrow.
"We win tomorrow," Deva said.