By the time the teams reached the Lord’s for the third Test on Thursday morning, the green top had received a bit of trimming. As the sun shone brightly and a packed venue cheered for the home team, England captain Ben Stokes made an uncommon decision — to bat first.
In sharp contrast to the Bazball philosophy of inserting the opposition in, especially at home, England showed an intention to change its plans from the previous two Tests of the series.
However, the challenging conditions demanded an old-school grind. England refrained from its popular template of scoring quick runs, and eventually rode on Joe Root’s flawless unbeaten 99 (191b, 9×4) to end the day at 251 for four.
Scoring wasn’t easy as England crawled at three runs an over, and having lost openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley early on, it was the 109-run stand for the third wicket between Root and Ollie Pope (44, 104b, 4×4) that allowed the host to rebuild.
Even though Pope fell soon after tea to Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah cut short Harry Brook’s innings, England ended the final session without further dents as Root and Stokes added 79 runs.
The first hour of play on day one was tricky for the home side with Akash Deep and the returning Bumrah finding some movement on offer. The openers looked tentative during the initial spell from the pacers, before Nitish Kumar Reddy struck twice, in a span of three deliveries, to remove both.
India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy removed both England openers in the first over of his spell.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy removed both England openers in the first over of his spell.
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Root and Pope led England’s recovery as they found their way through the following session and a half to remain unbeaten heading into Tea. While Root, after a low-key outing in the previous Test in Birmingham, returned to form, bringing up his 67th fifty in the format, Pope rode his luck to forge a fighting partnership.
Even though the run-rate dipped to 2.91 — England’s second-slowest at home in the Bazball era over an entire season — both the batters avoided further incursions.
The Indian bowlers struggled to find a breakthrough, and Rishabh Pant walking off the field after a blow to his left index finger further added to its woes. With Pant wincing in pain, it was Dhruv Jurel who came on to keep wickets.
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As Root and Pope rebuilt the innings, India’s slip cordon came under the scanner again as genuine edges fell short through the first hour, despite a seemingly frustrated Bumrah asking captain Shubman Gill to bring them forward. The cordon, comprising KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Yashasvi Jaiswal and the captain himself, was guilty of dropping Pope off a fuller delivery from Reddy in the fourteenth over. However, things improved slightly as the game progressed.
With the ball showing enough deviation off the surface, England’s false shot percentage in the first 15 overs was 38.4% — the highest in the first 15 overs of any Test innings in the country in nearly two decades.
India didn’t opt for the short ball too much, despite the surface offering some inconsistent bounce. Despite the scoring pace remaining slow, Root and Stokes ensured the host reaches a comfortable position at the end of the day’s play.
