Nitish Reddy celebrating an English wicket on Day 1 [Source: @BCCI/x]
England made way from their standard ‘BazBall’ routine on Day 1 of the third Test against India, after captain Ben Stokes won the toss and vehemently opted to bat first. Joe Root led the way for the hosts with a splendid knock to overcome the opening strikes of India’s Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Here, we take a look at the entire highlights of Day 1 of the third Test match, as it panned out at the iconic Lord’s in London on Thursday, July 10.
Nitish Reddy Strikes Early By Removing Both Openers
In a match featuring the return of Jasprit Bumrah, batting all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy made the new ball talk for Team India by striking twice in the 14th over of the day. By the time England reached 43-0 in 13 overs, Nitish got both, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett nicking towards Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant in the space of just four deliveries.
Tottering at 44-2, Ollie Pope punched out 44 cautious runs for England while sharing a 109-run partnership with Joe Root for the third wicket. Shortly after driving England past the 150-run mark in 49 overs, Pope got deceived by seasoned spinner by Ravindra Jadeja at the brink of a well-deserved half-century.
Joe Root Takes Over After Losing Harry Brook
Newly crowned number one ranked Test batter Harry Brook failed to sustain his prolific run with the bat as he was cleaned up with an inside edge from Jasprit Bumrah for just 11. Forming forces with unbeaten Joe Root at 172-4, captain Ben Stokes employed an unusual approach to his batting, washing up over 100 deliveries to score 39* by the time of stumps.
Root belted nine boundaries in the day to reach 99* off 191 as his partnership with Stokes reached an unbroken 79* to take England to 251-4 from 83 overs.