Coming to bat in tough conditions, Indian openers Rohit Sharma (83 off 145 balls) and KL Rahul (127* off 248 balls) brought up their A-game to clinch a perfect record opening partnership of 126 runs – Highest opening stand for India at Lord’s since 1974 – to help India reach 276/3 at stumps against England on the opening day of the second Test at Lord’s Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Rohit missed his first international century in Test cricket as veteran James Anderson dismissed him for 83 in the 44th over of India’s innings. But his teammate KL Rahul achieved a historic first Lord’s ton – his sixth century in Tests.
After Rohit’s dismissal, KL Rahul was joined by Cheteshwar Pujara as both were on a mission to propel the Indian innings. However, Test specialist Pujara (9 off 23 balls) failed again as a surprising out-swinger from Anderson added the edge of his bat and went straight to Bairstow at third slip. Captain Virat (42 off 143 balls), the next man, added another 100-run stand with Rahul off 175 balls to help his team post 250 on the opening day. At the end of the day’s play, Virat lost his wicket just before the stumps, while Rahul and Rahane remained unbeaten at the crease.
Only 18.4 overs were bowled in the first session, with some interruptions due to rain. India’s score at the time of lunch break was 46/0 with Rohit and Rahul unbeaten at the crease. Rohit and Rahul countered it in the first ten overs and ensured that England failed to find an early breakthrough in the opening leg of the first leg of the Lord’s Test. The England bowlers bowled tight but the Indian openers did the job.
Earlier, England won the toss and decided to field first. Captain Joe Root revealed that he wanted to win the toss and put India to bat first so that the rain conditions could be used to put the visiting team under pressure. But Rohit and Rahul made sure India had a solid base to start with.
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