Ben Stokes revealed he had taken himself to some "dark places" with his bowling workload as he dragged England to a 22-run victory over India in the third Test.
Stokes, who was named Player of the Match, ended with figures of 5-111 for the match, with two of those wickets coming on a dramatic final day at Lord's.
After taking the wicket of Akash Deep (one) with the last ball of the fourth day, Stokes bowled a further 9.2 overs and trapped KL Rahul (39) lbw in the first session of day five.
He followed up with a 10-over spell after lunch, eventually dislodging Jasprit Bumrah after he put on a dogged 35-run stand with Ravindra Jadeja for India's ninth wicket.
Indeed, Stokes bowled 44 overs across the match, the third-most he has managed in a Test and his most since 2019, to go with scores of 44 and 33 with the bat.
"The Test match is on the line, it is different," Stokes told BBC Test Match Special, when asked if he had any worries about his workload during those spells.
"There are moments where I wouldn't even think about stopping."
England's result was their fifth-smallest Test victory, in terms of runs, on home soil.
Their margin of victory was their lowest in a men's Test at Lord's, while it was also their tightest triumph since beating Australia by 14 in their Ashes opener in 2013.
The Lord's Test was the second of back-to-back matches, with just three days of rest following India's victory at Edgbaston, where Stokes bowled 26 overs.
Stokes had only just returned from a hamstring injury and he suffered another fitness scare on day one, when he appeared to sustain a groin issue while batting.
In the first Test, at Headingley, he sent down 35 overs and spoke afterwards about how difficult it was to recover.
"I have taken myself to some pretty dark places before. But look, bowling to win a Test match, if that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what does," Stokes added.
"With what today was, what was on the line... Yesterday [Saturday] was a bit different. You know, there was still more cricket to be played. And, you know, I pulled myself off there.
"I mean, to be honest, I was absolutely cooked [on day four] as well. But again, today, the game was on the line. Nothing was stopping me."
Stokes also took the time to shower praise on the returning Jofra Archer, who was playing in his first Test since 2021.
Archer ended with match figures of 5-105, with his heroics on day five at Lord's reminiscent of his showing in England's ODI World Cup final win at the same venue in 2019.
Indeed, the final day of the third Test was the six-year anniversary of that success, and Archer made his mark with the dismissals of Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar.
And Stokes had predicted that Archer would do something special upon his return to the England set-up, saying: "He cracked the game open with those two wickets.
"I just had this gut feeling something was going to happen, with it being Jofra's first time back.
"It's been awesome to have him back out there. Every time he gets announced, you hear the whole ground erupt.
"When he turns it on, the speeds come up on the screen, and the feeling in the game just changes."
