LONDON: Joe Root struck an unbeaten fifty and shared a century stand with Ollie Pope as England fought back in the third Test at Lord’s on Friday after India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy took two wickets in an over.
England were 153-2 at tea on the first day, after captain Ben Stokes won the toss and chose to bat.
Root was 54 not out and Pope, who might have been dismissed first ball, unbeaten on 44 as England got through the session without losing a wicket.
There was a worrying moment for India when wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant suffered a hand injury and had to leave the field but team management said there is “no concern at this stage” with the vice-captain expected to return to the field after having ice treatment on his left index finger.
Much of the pre-match talk had focused on the return of Jasprit Bumrah, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, after he was rested for India’s 336-run thrashing of England at Edgbaston last week that levelled the five-match series at 1-1.
India beat England by 336 runs to win second Test
But it was Reddy, the fourth seamer deployed by India captain Shubman Gill on Thursday, who broke through.
With his third ball, the 22-year-old had left-hander Ben Duckett (23) well caught down the legside by a diving Pant off a gloved pull.
Next ball, the often skittish Pope almost fell for a duck when he threw his bat at an outswinger, with Gill just unable to hold a tough chance low to his right in the gully.
But with the last ball of the over Reddy, appearing in just his seventh Test, produced a superb full-length delivery that swung late and straightened off the pitch before taking the outside edge of Zak Crawley’s (18) bat to give Pant a simple catch.
Pope, following his first-ball reprieve, had several more nervy moments, chasing a wide delivery from Bumrah he could have left alone before a loose shot off Reddy fell just short of third slip.
Root, second behind England team-mate Harry Brook in the Test batting rankings, was far more assured as he went to fifty with a glance through fine leg off Reddy – his seventh four in 102 balls faced.
Stokes, criticised for opting to field at Edgbaston, decided to bat first after winning the toss in sunny conditions.
But there was still some moisture in a green-tinged pitch with Bumrah beating Duckett’s outside edge in the first over of the match.
Crawley several times got away with charging down the pitch to Akash Deep, who took a brilliant 10-wicket match haul in the second Test.
The Kent opener responded with classy cover drives from Deep deliveries off both the front and back foot as he survived a testing first hour.
But shortly after the drinks break, England’s steady start was undone.
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