KL Rahul finished on an unbeaten 127 as India ended the opening day of the second Test at Lord’s on 276/3. This happened after England skipper Joe Root won the toss and opted to bowl first. In the process, he added two 100-plus stands with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. More about the day’s play in the report below.
KL Rahul joined an elite list of Indians who have scored a Test ton at Lord’s. His ton kept India in the hunt of scoring runs. He first added 126 runs for the first wickets with Rohit who himself scores a brilliant 83. Initially, Rohit outscored Rahul, but later the Karnataka cricketer switched on his gears after the dismissal of Rohit. Cheteshwar Pujara then had a brief stay in the crease before he was dismissed for 9.
An Anderson special was needed to get rid of Rohit today! ☝🏽
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Virat Kohli after scoring a first-ball duck in the first Test got underway at Lord’s. He looked assured till he got to 42 before Ollie Robinson found his edge outside the off-stump. Joe Root completed the catch to see the back of the Indian skipper. At stumps KL Rahul was unbeaten and with him was Ajinkya Rahane unbeaten on 1 as well.
KL Rahul’s Ton Overshadows James Anderson’s Two Wickets On Day 1
James Anderson picked the key wickets of Rohit and Pujara as Robinson removed Kohli to give the hosts a reason to smile at stumps. For a large part during the two partnerships, Root had a glum face not knowing how to buy a wicket. Robinson and Anderson kept pegging the Indian batsmen outside off stump and were successful in getting the edges of Kohli and Pujara. Anderson castled Rohit with an incoming delivery that breached is defence that looked solid.
Earlier in the day, Ravichandran Ashwin was once again dropped from the India XI. Ishant Sharma in place of Shardul Thakur was the only change in the playing XI. Many expected Ashwin to return however, that was not the case. To put things into perspective, Ashwin was the highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded ICC World Test Championship.
Also Read: ENG vs IND 2021: Twitter Reacts To KL Rahul’s Sensational Century At Lord’s
Brief scores: India 276/3 (KL Rahul 127*, Rohit Sharma 83, Virat Kohli 42; James Anderson 2-52) vs England.
