DAY 2 – REPORT
KL Rahul was unbeaten on 53 by the end of the day © Getty
On a day of delays and disruptions, which saw only 72.3 overs of play, Joe Root scored his 37th Test century before Brydon Carse (56) and Jamie Smith (51) chipped in with handy contributions to take the hosts to 387. Jasprit Bumrah bagged his 13th five-wicket haul in overseas Tests to peg England back while a fighting 53* from KL Rahul took India to Stumps at 145 for 3, still trailing by 242 runs.
Rahul was the steady force in India’s reply, guiding them through choppy waters. With Karun Nair, he put on 61 to start the recovery after the early dismissal of Yashasvi Jaiswal. Nair creamed Carse to the boundary fence after using the recourse of DRS to overturn a caught-behind decision. Nair was good, showing the straight bat picking up the ones and twos at ease while Rahul drove through the extra-cover region to bring up the 50-run stand.
But, Nair (40) failed to convert yet another good start. Stokes clipped the shoulder of his bat as Root pulled off a stunning catch at first slip to break the record of the most number of outfield catches in Test history. England turned to Jofra Archer immediately once Gill came in to bat the Indian captain was quite tentative early on, against the extra pace. Rahul continued to play the ball late, under his eyes and picked up ones and twos behind the wicket.
After a beautiful straight drive down the ground, Gill (16) nicked behind off Chris Woakes to Smith who was standing up to the stumps. The ploy worked for England with the seamer getting a slight tail away from the right-hander. Rishabh Pant faced Shoaib Bashir when he came to the crease, and after getting his eye in, took two boundaries against the offspinner. The watchful Rahul moved to 50, being a steady presence for the visitors at the crease.
At the start of day’s play, Root scored his 37th Test ton before Bumrah tore through the English batting order with the wickets of Ben Stokes, Root and Woakes within two of his overs. Smith was dropped off a regulation chance by Rahul in the slips, and the wicketkeeper-batter made the most of his reprieve. A surprising ball change by India, which was moving around, after just 10.4 overs played into England’s hands as well.
Smith and Carse had the runs flowing quickly and barely offered a chance to India, having battled through a testing period of play. The ‘keeper-batter played a fluent extra-cover drive before bringing up his 50 with a single on the stroke of Lunch. Smith departed early after Lunch, courtesy Mohammed Siraj inducing an edge to the ‘keeper which ended the 84-run stand. Bumrah picked up his fifth of the innings by castling Archer – his first five-fer at Lord’s. With one wicket to go, Carse was dropped twice in an over to Siraj’s dismay. It was sandwiched by a six down the ground as the all-rounder brought up his 50. But, the bowler finally had his way as a yorker bowled Carse to end the innings at 387.
Yashasvi Jaiswal began the Indian innings with three boundaries in the first over of the Indian response. But his stay at the crease was short-lived as Archer got one to angle away from the left-hander, which Jaiswal prodded at but ended up poking it to Harry Brook in the slip-cauldron. Thereafter, Rahul carried out the repair job even as England had their nose ahead in the contest.
Brief Scores:India 145/3 (KL Rahul 53*, Karun Nair 40; Jofra Archer 1-22, Ben Stokes 1-16) trail England 352/7 (Joe Root 104, Jamie Smith 51*; Jasprit Bumrah 4-63, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-62) by 242 runs
© Cricbuzz
