Siraj & Shami Keep England in Check; India Lead by 245 Runs at Lord's on Day 2

India scored 364 in the first innings with KL Rahul scoring 129.

Mohammed Siraj picked two wickets on Day 2 at Lord's

Image: PTI 

While Day 1 of the Lord’s Test between India and England belonged to the batters, Day 2 saw the bowlers have more joy with the likes of James Anderson and Mohammed Siraj doing the bulk of the damage for their sides.

Siraj picked two wickets in the final session of play as England were pegged back to 119/3 with Joe Root (48*) and Jonny Bairstow (6*) holding steady. The hosts trail 245 runs.

Earlier in the day, England with Anderson picking his 31^st five-wicket haul wrapped up the Indian innings at 364 after a KL Rahul century had put the visitors in a good position. India lost their final seven wickets for 88 runs.

Ollie Robinson struck off the second ball on the day and James Anderson with his first as England seemed like they were going wrestle away the momentum from India.

Robinson’s half volley landed in the hands of Dom Sibley as KL Rahul (129) drove to perfection, almost, and a few deliveries later Ajinkya Rahane’s (1) outside edge gave Joe Root an easy catch, giving Anderson his third wicket of the innings.

India’s famed number 3, 4 and 5 had totalled 52 runs in the first innings, putting in a below par performance yet again.

At 282/5, India, with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja in the middle were going to need to stabilise.

Pant danced down the track to Anderson and shouldered arms while Jadeja stayed put in his crease and let the ball go as both batters curbed their natural instincts, thwarting England’s charges on an overcast morning.

A fighting 37 off 58 from Pant meant India hadn’t collapsed as was the worry after the early wickets, but crucially lost the talented batter half an hour before Lunch. Pant, looking to accelerate the scoring rate a shade, tried to cut one that was too close to the body and edged it to Jos Buttler off Mark Wood.

Pant found the boundary five times and was starting to look dangerous when he was dismissed. Jadeja at the other end was playing second fiddle and more than a fair few dots.

Off the next over, Mohammed Shami, who walked in at 8, was dismissed first ball by Moeen Ali, reducing India to 336/7 with 20 minutes to go for Lunch.

After the break, Ishant and Jadeja stuck around for about half an hour, adding vital runs to the total as India inched towards the 370-run mark.

Ishant’s resistance ended after 29 deliveries off which he scored 8 when he was trapped LBW by Anderson.

The veteran pacer then completed his five-wicket haul when he dismissed Jasprit Bumrah for a 0.

Off the next over, Jadeja went looking for the big hit and was caught by Anderson for 40 off Mark Wood as India were bowled out for 364.

England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley negotiated the hour left in that session as they went into Tea at 23/0.

Right after the break though, India struck as Mohammed Siraj sent Sibley and Haseeb Hameed packing in the space of two deliveries before England captain Joe Root defended the hat-trick ball confidently.

India’s pacers continued to ask questions of Burns and Root, both of whom had to take a cautious approach and absorb the pressure.

Siraj and Shami looked the likeliest of the lot to strike with the former even going through two DRS calls, aided by an overenthusiastic captain in Virat Kohli.

Root and Burns weathered the storm from Siraj and put on a fifty-run partnership in the process too before India turned to spin for the first time on the day, in the last hour of play.

Burns and Root put on 85 runs for the third wicket and looked set to bat out till stumps as they were well set. Shami though had other ideas, getting one to come back with the angle into Burns and trapped him LBW. The opener reviewed in vain and walked back for 49.

Jonny Bairstow and Root then saw out the final few overs as Siraj looked to snare another scalp. At stumps, England were 119/3, trailing India by 245 runs.