On this day in 1986, India won its 1st Test match at 'Mecca of Cricket'

LONDON: On this day in 1986, India made history at the Lord's and clinched their first-ever Test victory at the venue, defeating England by five wickets at the historic venue in the first match of their three-match series against the Englishmen. India won the toss and elected to field first, England put up 294 on the board in their 128.2 overs. England had got off a great start, with openers Graham Gooch and Tim Robinson (35) stitching a 66-run stand for the first wicket. After the end of this stand, wickets fell quickly for England, sinking them to 4/98. Gooch then stitched a valuable 147-run stand with Derek Pringle (63) and went on to make 114.

However, the rest of the batters could not provide much resistance to Indian bowling. Chetan Sharma (5/64) and Roger Binny (3/55) were the stars for India with the ball and stopped England from posting an intimidating total. In the second innings, India gained a 47-run lead over their opposition thanks to the efforts of Dilip Vengsarkar (126*), Mohinder Amarnath (69), Sunil Gavaskar (34) and Mohammad Azharuddin (33). Other batters could not do much for India and England dominated them. Vengsarkar had also become the first-ever overseas cricketer to score three hundreds at the historic venue.

Pacers Graham Dilley (4/146) and Derek Pringle (3/58) did a great job of not letting the match slip out of England's hands entirely by letting India gain a huge lead after the second innings. In the third innings, It was in hands of the English to gain a lead and also post an intimidating total on the board that would translate into an intimidating target. However, Indian bowlers completely dominated the English. Other than Mike Gatting (40), Allan Lamb (39) and Paul Downton (29), batters let the English down. Kapil Dev (4/52), Maninder Singh (3/9) terrorised their opposition with their mix of spin and pace. England were restricted to 180/10. With a lead of just 133, Indians were given a target of 134. Though wickets kept falling for India regularly and reduced India to 110/5, it chased down the target.

Contributions from Sunil Gavaskar (22), Dilip Vengsarkar (33), Ravi Shastri (20*) and Kapil Dev (23*) were sufficient for India. India achieved their historic first-ever Test win at the venue and went on to win the series 2-0, clinching their second series against England at England. Kapil Dev was adjudged as the 'Man of the Match' for his 1/67, 4/52 and 23*. As of now, India has played 19 Tests at Lord's, winning three and losing 12. 4 matches have ended in a draw.

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