Former England skipper Michael Vaughan was full of praise for Jasprit Bumrah’s fiery morning spell on Day 4 of the Lord’s Test, calling it one of the finest he has seen in recent times. Despite Bumrah’s relentless pressure, Vaughan expressed surprise that England opener Zak Crawley managed to survive the onslaught.

Bumrah, who had already rattled Crawley with a hostile over on Day 3, returned with even more venom on the morning of Day 4. He relentlessly probed the corridor of uncertainty, forcing both Crawley and Ben Duckett to play uncertainly, as the variable bounce and lateral movement kept the batters guessing.

“When you’ve got someone like Jasprit Bumrah, his spell on the fourth morning was up there with the very best,” Michael Vaughan told Cricbuzz. “How Crawley’s hand is still intact, and how he and Ollie Pope didn’t lose their wickets during that period, is beyond me.”

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Vaughan was critical of England’s collapse from 145/4, stating that they should’ve pushed their total to at least 250 on such a surface. “Once you see off Bumrah on that wicket, you’ve got to make it count,” he said.

While Bumrah had to wait to open his account in the second innings, he returned late in the day to clean up the tail — removing Brydon Carse with a brutal yorker and then bowling Chris Woakes to finish with two second-innings wickets. Mohammed Siraj had earlier set the tone in the morning, striking key blows before Bumrah wrapped things up.

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India, in reply, were rocked early and ended the day at 58/4, losing Jaiswal, Karun Nair, Shubman Gill, and nightwatchman Akash Deep. With KL Rahul unbeaten on 33, India needs 135 more runs on the final day. Ben Stokes’ late strike added to the drama, setting up a cracking finale at Lord’s.