The third Test between India and England at Lord’s is no short of an entertainment, even on its final day. After last-over dramas on back-to-back days, tempers flared once again on Monday when Ravindra Jadeja and Bryson Carse confronted each other before England captain Ben Stokes stepped in to cool things down.

The incident took place on the last ball of the 35th over when Jadeja, while following the ball came in the line of Carse’s follow-through, during the first run, but avoided a nasty collision. Television replays showed that ever Carse tried to get hold of Jadeja’s neck but the Indian all-rounder’s motion let him go.

The England pacer didn’t seem to have taken things lightly and hurled a mouthful towards Jadeja. This irked the Indian batter, who put forward his version by saying “he was following the ball while going for a run” and had no intention to barge on Carse.

While the two exchanged a war of words, it was England captain Ben Stokes who intervened to calm things down. Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar, who was on commentary on JioHotstar, praised Jadeja for handling the situation well.

“I thought Jadeja handled that superbly. Clearly, looking at the ball, ran into the bowler in his follow-through. He quickly explained to the bowler what happened, he wasn’t trying to pick up a fight,” he said.

“Just trying to clear the air and got on with his job. Just an arm around Jadeja’s neck at one stage. Made me wonder what Brydon Carse was up to. But all’s well that ends well,” added Manjrekar.

England two wickets away from win

Meanwhile, India are staring at defeat as they struggled to 112/8 at lunch on the fifth and final day. Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Reddy saw off some excellent bowling by the England pacers but Chris Woakes dismissed the later at the stroke of lunch.

Jadeja was batting on 17 at the break. Reddy was out after making 13 as India needed another 81 runs for victory. This was after Jofra Archer picked up the wickets of Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar, while Ben Stokes removed KL Rahul. India resumed the day on 58 for for four.