London: KL Rahul’s splendid unbeaten 127, coupled with an impressive Rohit Sharma (83) helped India dominate Day 1 of the second Test against England and lay a strong foundation at Lords on Thursday. India are 276/3 at stumps with Ajinkya Rahane (1 not out) accompanying Rahul in the middle.
The two Indian openers right from the start were cautious and calculative taking instance from the last game. Their patience paid off as the Rahul-Rohit duo ended the first session at 46/0. For the fact, the start of the play was delayed due to rain.
Rahul played the second fiddle early on as Rohit took the charge to keep the scoreboard ticking and although the scoring rate was quite slow because of the seaming conditions, both of them played with quite ease despite the England pacers testing them now and then.
That's Stumps on Day 1 of the 2nd #ENGvIND Test at Lord's!
A solid outing with the bat for #TeamIndia, courtesy
1⃣2⃣7⃣* from @klrahul11
8⃣3⃣ from @ImRo45
4⃣2⃣ from @imVkohliScorecard 👉 https://t.co/KGM2YELLde pic.twitter.com/HpeU5SoWk5
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 12, 2021
Rohit, who stitched a 126-run stand with his partner, looked set on course for a big knock but James Anderson got through his defence just at the right time breaking up the partnership. Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara’s disappointing patch continued as he went home again for a single digit.
Thereon, Rahul though started opening up a bit and along with skipper Virat Kohli, added a crucial 117-run stand for the third wicket boosting visitors’ innings. The Indian skipper fell short of a deserving half-century but Rahul did complete his ton becoming the third Indian opener after Vinood Mankad and Ravi Shastri to score a century at Lords.
Rahul would be hoping to capitalise on it to make a big score on Day 2 and make sure India get a strong first-innings total.
Brief scores: India 276/3 (KL Rahul 127*, Rohit Sharma 83; James Anderson 2/52, Olie Robinson 1/47) vs England. Match to continue.
