Lunch – England 83-2 (Root 24, Pope 19) v India
Nitish Kumar Reddy needed just four balls to make a mess of England’s top order, yet by the first interval Joe Root and Ollie Pope had settled nerves and nudged the hosts to a steady 83 for two on an overcast Lord’s morning.
Ben Stokes won the toss for the third straight match and, to scattered cheers around the pavilion, chose to bat. It felt a bolder call after Edgbaston, where his decision to bowl first misfired, but the skipper clearly trusts his batting line-up to set the agenda.
India replaced Prasidh Krishna with Jasprit Bumrah, giving them extra nip with the new ball. Bumrah bruised Ben Duckett more than once, thudding the left-hander’s ribs and glove, yet Duckett and Zak Crawley scrapped through the opening hour at 39 without loss. Crawley, typically brisk, collected four boundaries – one via a thick outside edge, several through the covers – while playing and missing often enough to keep Rishabh Pant interested.
Reddy then flipped the script. His first delivery to Duckett was, frankly, a mis-directed long-hop down the leg side, but Duckett managed only a faint tickle and Pant did the rest. Three balls later Crawley was sent back by a gem: angled in, then nibbling away off the seam to kiss the outside edge. Two wickets, four balls, fresh life in India’s slip cordon.
Somewhere in between, Pope was handed a sizeable reprieve. His very first ball – full, swinging, testing – flew low to gully, where Shubman Gill sprawled right but couldn’t cling on. Pope looked scratchy for ten minutes, then began to tuck into anything slightly over-pitched, working Bumrah through mid-wicket and threading a neat late-cut off Reddy.
Root, at the other end, was resourceful rather than flashy. A clipped four behind square off Mohammed Siraj brought the crowd to their feet, followed by a late-dab to third man that oozed calm. England’s former captain arrived at lunch unbeaten, methodically resetting the innings alongside Pope in a 39-run stand.
Gill, asked about Stokes’ decision, admitted he was “a bit confused” as to what he would have done, adding that India felt any help from the surface would disappear after the first session. For now, Reddy’s burst has kept the tourists in the game, but England will be pleased enough with their recovery, mindful that a solid afternoon could yet tilt this Test back their way.
