Ind vs Eng 2nd Test Day 3: Woakes, Bairstow star as hosts take 250-run lead

On Day 3 of 2nd Test of 5-match series, England rode on Chris Woakes (120 not out) and Jonny Bairstow (93) to reach 357 for six wickets and take a huge 250-run lead over India at the Lord's cricket ground in London. All-rounder Woakes registered his maiden international century, while Bairstow scored his 19th Test fifty as the duo shared a 189-run stand for the sixth wicket. When the pair had joined hands, England were 131/5 and India had done well to stay in competitive mode in the rain-affected match. But Bairstow and Woakes dealt handsomely with every challenge came before them. And India captain Virat Kohli was also blamed for letting the game drift with this partnership by not asking his bowlers to operate with aggressive intent. Woakes was particularly impressive as he was making a comeback into Test cricket after an injury and he got a chance to play only because Ben Stokes went out of duty due to personal reasons. Woakes and Bairstow initially saw off the probing deliveries from Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma who had troubled the English top-order. But once they got into grove, they adapted to the conditions and runs flowed, even against spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav. Before this partnership, even though the sun was smiling at the Lord's, Indian pacers had floored the English batsmen. Alastair Cook (21), Keaton Jennings (11), debutant Ollie Pope (28) and skipper Joe Root (19) all of them had perished before lunch, with England 18 runs behind India's first innings total.

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India vs England 2nd Test Day 3 Scorecard



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Lord's Test: Day 3 3rd Session report

• When the Bairstow and Woakes had joined hands, England were 131/5 and India had done well to stay in competitive mode in the rain-affected match.
• But Bairstow and Woakes dealt handsomely with every challenge came before them. And India captain Virat Kohli was also blamed for letting the game drift with this partnership by not asking his bowlers to operate with aggressive intent.
• Woakes was particularly impressive as he was making a comeback into Test cricket after an injury and he got a chance to play only because Ben Stokes went out of duty due to personal reasons.
• Woakes and Bairstow initially saw off the probing deliveries from Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma who had troubled the English top-order. But once they got into grove, they adapted to the conditions and runs flowed, even against spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav.
• Then Indian bowlers tried to contain the runs, setting defensive fielding placements. It allowed the English pair to get singles and doubles without any pressure.
• Woakes hit a short-pitch delivery from Shami towards the deep midwicket for a four to bring his three-figure mark.
• Bairstow, however, was not lucky. He took a lot of time in his nineties before a drive off Hardik proved fatal as a diving wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik plucked a very good catch to bring relief to India.
• Later, Sam Curran (22 not out) and Woakes took England to 357/6 when bad light forced early close of the day's play.

Lord's Test: Day 3 2nd session report

• Post lunch, Bairstow and Jos Buttler (24) took their fifth-wicket partnership to 42 runs. England crossed 100 in the 27th over, even as Mohammed Shami (3-67) and Ishant Sharma (1-66) bowled brilliant spells at the Lord's.
• Both batsmen played and missed a lot, with Bairstow in particular searching for timing as he played quite a few inside-edges that missed his stumps.
• Shami finally got the breakthrough for India as he trapped Buttler plumb lbw in the 32nd over. With a lot of cloud cover, India still had hopes of reversal in the match at that point.
• But Bairstow-Woakes defied them as the visitors severely missed a third full-time pacer to back up Shami and Sharma. Hardik Pandya (1-38) tried but couldn't assert himself on the proceedings while Kuldeep Yadav (0-28) was taken for easy runs.
• In doing so, Bairstow brought up his 19th Test half-century off 76 balls. Soon afterwards, Woakes did the same, and reached his fifth Test half-century off 71 balls.
• England crossed 200 in the 49th over even as R Ashwin (0-23) failed to provide any breakthrough. Surprisingly, the ace off-spinner, who had a very impressive first Test, was not given enough overs.
• Once the lead crossed 100, Indian fielders' shoulders dropped and they played for the tea break.
• Earlier, India put in a hard grind as England were reduced to 89 for four at lunch.
• Conditions changed drastically as the sun came out with not a hint of rain around. Moisture, both in the air and on the surface, dried up quickly as batting seemed a lot easier.
• Even so, the ball continued to do something as Sharma and Shami began proceedings for the day. They took a couple overs to find the proper line and length to bowl at the two left-handed opening batsmen.
• Shami troubled the batsmen more in the opening spell, with Sharma finding more impact as he changed lines to come around the wicket. The breakthrough came in the eighth over as Shami trapped Keaton Jennings (11) lbw, with England losing a pointless review.

Lord's Test: Day 3, first session report

• Beginning the day, Cook and Jennings made a positive start, showing a lot of intent. But a full-pitched delivery missed Jennings' bat and hit his pads, resulting in a lbw decision, with the hosts at 28.
• The ball continued to do something as Ishant Sharma (1-26) and Shami began proceedings for the day.
• They took a couple overs to find the proper line and length to bowl at the two left-handed opening batsmen.
• Shami troubled the batsmen more in this opening spell, with Sharma finding more impact as he changed lines to come around the wicket.
• The breakthrough came in the eighth over as Shami trapped Keaton Jennings (11) lbw, with England losing a pointless review.
• It became a double blow as five balls later Alastair Cook (21) was caught behind off Sharma and the hosts were reduced to 32-2.
• Joe Root (19) and 20-year-old debutante Oliver Pope (28) then added 45 runs for the third wicket.
• Some shoddy bowling from Kuldeep Yadav (0-15) and an ordinary first spell from Hardik Pandya (1-15) helped the batting duo, as the score crossed 50 in the 14th over.
• Surprisingly, R Ashwin didn't get to bowl in this first session. But after skipper Virat Kohli had a chat with Pandya, he tightened up his line to the batsmen and became much more effective.
• He then went on to trap Pope lbw in the 22nd over, as England lost their second review as well.
• The big blow of the morning came at the stroke of lunch when Shami returned to pick up Root, trapping him lbw.
• There were no reviews left, but England's most important batsman was out plumb anyway as India roared back into contention.

 
How James Anderson reduced India to 107 of Day 2
 
The inept technique coupled with fragile temperament of Indian batting was thoroughly exposed as they crumbled to 107 all out against a top-quality England seam attack on a rain-hit second day. Put into bat under overcast conditions, the frailties of a wobbly top order were there for everyone to see as veteran Jimmy Anderson (5/20) made them hop, skip and jump on a track with his 26th five-wicket haul in longest form. He was ably complemented by Chris Woakes (2/19), Sam Curran (1/26) and Stuart Broad (1/37). The excessive seam movement became too hot to handle despite only 35.2 overs being bowled on the day. Anderson was right on target removing Murali Vijay (0) with a delivery that pitched on the middle stump line and moved enough as the opener tried to flick it, only to miss the line completely. KL Rahul (8) lazily nicked a delivery on the fourth stump as India lost their openers in very first session in which only 6.3 overs were bowled. Cheteshwar Pujara (1, 25 balls) left a lot of deliveries but was once again run out trying a quick single with his skipper Kohli backtracking after initially responding to a call.
 
The only hope was the skipper himself and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane (18), who had scored a memorable century in 2014. With the conditions adverse, not for once did the Kohli-Rahane duo look settled during their 34-run stand off 13.1 overs. If Anderson wasn't troubling them with off-stump channel, then it was comeback man Woakes, who was ready to make life miserable for the duo. Replacing first Test hero Ben Stokes, Woakes repeatedly hit the seam and got it to nip away from the right handers beating the bat innumerable times. Finally, Kohli (23) who had battled hard for 70 minutes and 57 balls, forced into committing a mistake by Woakes. A delivery that pitched on middle stump hit the seam and Kohli closed his bat face with a leading edge being gobbled at the slip by Jos Buttler. For Day 2 highlights click here
 
Kohli changed the team for 37^th time in a row
 
For the 37th time in a row, Kohli picked the team with some changes from the previous match. In the 2^nd Test, Cheteshwar Pujara picked in place of Shikhar Dhawan and also including Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Umesh Yadav. With the pitch assisting the quick bowlers and likely to do on Saturday as well, it will be interesting how much the quicks can get out of this pitch and whether or not the inclusion of Kuldeep will have a big bearing on the game or not.
 

How Virat-Shastri combine keep on changing and chopping players at Number 3 position
 
At Edgbaston, Captain Kohli chose to play Shikhar Dhawan ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara, and fitted in K L Rahul in the playing 11. Experimentation with the number three spot is nothing new for India’s team management. The Kohli-Ravi Shastri combine first played around with number three in 2014-15, when Rohit Sharma was picked ahead of Pujara for the fourth Test against Australia at Sydney.
 
That experiment lasted two Tests against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (first Test at Galle), before Sharma was moved down the order and Ajinkya Rahane was made to bat at number three in the next two Tests. Pujara returned at number three in the home series against South Africa (2015) and the status quo was maintained for six Tests, before he was dropped again for the third Test in West Indies (St Lucia, 2016). There, much to everyone's surprise, Kohli himself batted at number three, scoring 3 and 4 in the two innings. The common aspect among these previous changes was Pujara's poor form (in Australia, he had scored 201 runs in three Tests before being dropped) or strike rate (in the second Test at Jamaica, he scored 46 runs off 223 balls at 28.93 before being dropped). The question for the team management to answer is whether or not it wants Pujara, who has played county cricket this summer, back in the playing eleven.
 
Nothing seems to have really changed since Birmingham, where Dhawan managed only 26 and 13, and Rahul scored 4 and 13. According to the Indian camp, that was a difficult pitch to bat on and their experiment could still continue. Even so, with 36 different playing XIs in as many Tests under Kohli's captaincy, the Indian line-up is begging for consistency.
 
 
Here are the playing 11 of both the sides:
 
England playing 11: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root, Oliver Pope, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Stuart Board, James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid
 
India Playing 11: Murali Vijay, K L Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
 
India’s record at Lord’s cricket ground in London:
 
India have played 17 matches at Lord’s, of they have lost 11 and won only two. The most recent win for India came in 2014, when Ishant Sharma took 7 wickets to win the match under M S Dhoni’s captaincy. India could take inspiration from that game ahead of the 2nd test.
 
Total: 17
 
England: 11
 
India: 2
 
Drawn: 4
 
When and where to watch England vs India, 2nd Test Day 3
 
Match Date: 9 August - 13 August 2018
 
Match Timing: 3:30 pm (IST), 10:00 am (GMT), 11:00 am (Local time)
 
Match Venue: Lord’s cricket ground, London, England
 
India vs England 2nd Test match live streaming details
 
India vs England 2nd Test match will be broadcast on Sony Six, Sony Six HD in English Commentary. India vs England second Test match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv app. Tatasky subscribers can also live stream India vs England 2nd Test match on Tatasky mobile app.
 
Here is some latest cricket news:
 
We made mistakes under challenging conditions, says Rahane: India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has admitted that the visiting batsmen committed mistakes under challenging conditions as his side were bowled out for just 107 runs in the first innings of the rain-affected second Test against England at Lord's. "I don't think you can get any more challenging conditions than this (in Test cricket) especially with Duke ball in these weather conditions. But as a batsman you have to back your ability. It is all about intent out there, of not only scoring runs but also leaving the ball and defending well. As a batsman it is always a challenge to come here and play against this kind of attack," Rahane said. "You have to accept your mistake. Acceptance is the key, I think, when you play in England. It's not about getting caught behind, even run out, but you have got to accept your mistake and move on. The quicker we learn from our mistakes, the better for us. I am sure everyone will learn from this innings and there is a long way to go in this match as well as the series," he said. "These were definitely challenging conditions. Anderson did not bowl a short ball. He was just bowling at same spot -- four or five metre length -- and that is really crucial on this wicket. If you are bowling that length, you got to bowl consistently, then as a batsman you have to leave the ball or back your methods consistently. It is all about patience on these conditions and trusting your methods and backing your ability," said the visiting team vice captain.
 
Gavaskar’s take on Virat Kohli success and why Pant should play 3^rd Test: Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar today praised Virat Kohli's batting in the first Test against England and attributed his success to an adjustment in bat-speed. After a horror tour of the country four years ago, Kohli notched up his first century on English soil in the opening Test, albeit in a losing cause. "It's brilliant! The adjustment that he's made in his bat speed. In 2014, he was feeling for deliveries outside the off-stump. Now he's waiting for the ball to come, not pushing at the ball as much. At the start, he does. But that happens with everyone," Gavaskar, an expert with official broadcasters Sony Pictures Network, told a select group of reporters.