Rahul hits century before late wickets and solid start provide England with hope

KL Rahul made a sublime century as both India and England go into day three of the second Test delicately poised at Lord’s.

With Joe Root winning the toss and opting to bowl first, Rahul and Rohit Sharma (83) combined to post an opening stand.

Despite Rahul going on to register his first Test century since 2018, it was the latter who initially scored the greater proportion of runs as Sharma brought up his 50 off just 83 deliveries.

Having traditionally struggled away from home, Sharma looked solid on the front foot and commanding as ever against the short ball. He even dispatched Mark Wood for six with a pull shot on his way to reaching his highest-ever total away from home.

The evergreen Jimmy Anderson would make the breakthrough though, with a sumptuous length-delivery that nipped back in and hit the top of the off-stump.

Anderson would soon tempt Cheteshwar Pujara (9) into feeling for the ball outside off-stump with an outswinger to reduce the tourists to 150-2.

In spite of losing two quick wickets, Rahul would continue to assert his dominance on the England attack as he brought up his second 50 in as many matches.

Virat Kohli would show his class for a score of 42, with the third-wicket partnership worth 117 prior to the skipper’s dismissal late in the day.

Prior to that, Rahul brought up his ton off 212 balls with a cut-shot through backwards-point. Having been handed a lifeline in the game’s longest format due to the misfortune of others, Rahul has not wasted the opportunity and currently does not seem to have a weakness in his game.

Strong off the front foot and in control off the back, the 29-year-old may have shaken off a white-ball-specialist tag which has threatened his Test match prospects in recent years with these performances in the first two games.

Ollie Robinson would pick up from where he left off at Trent Bridge as he found the edge of Kohli who played the ball when it could have been left.

Rahul was not out overnight alongside Ajinkya Rahane (1), but he only survived one ball before driving Robinson’s full delivery into the hands of Dom Sibley on 129.

More magic from Anderson followed as he tempted Rahane into a shot with an in-swinging delivery which nipped away and found the edge.

Rishabh Pant (37) and Ravi Jadeja (40) threatened to take the game away from England with a score of more than 400 before Mark Wood dismissed both.

The longer-than-usual Indian tail failed to wag, with Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah falling for ducks as England bowled India out for 364.

Although, the host’s top-order woes would not disappear. Dom Sibley (11) gifted Mohammed Siraj with his wicket as he once again lifted the ball straight into short mid-wicket for the third time in three innings.

Haseeb Hameed’s return to international cricket against the same opponents he impressed against five years ago did not go to plan as he was beaten by a straight ball from Siraj for a golden duck with England at 23-2.

Rory Burns (49) and Joe Root provided resistance as England found themselves relying on their captain once again when they most needed him.

Their 85 runs for the third wicket will hopefully provide England with a platform to reach a score similar to that 364.

However, Burns would play no longer play a part in that after Shami pinned him LBW from around the wicket.

Root finished the day on 48* with Jonny Bairstow the new batsman at 119-3, trailing by 245 runs.

Follow us on Twitter @ProstInt