2nd Test Eng v Ind Day 1: Rohit, Rahul grind England into submission

KL Rahul celebrates his century

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KL Rahul celebrates his century

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England's Joe Root

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England's Joe Root and India's Rohit Sharma walk off as rain delays play

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The teams line up before play

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KL Rahul in action

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Chancellor of the Exchequer Chancellor Rishi Sunak in the stands

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Rohit Sharma in action

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Rohit Sharma celebrates his half century

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Rohit Sharma is bowled out by England's James Anderson

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England's Moeen Ali and Haseeb Hameed

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KL Rahul celebrates his century with Virat Kohli

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England's James Anderson before play

England's Ollie Robinson celebrates the wicket of India's Virat Kohli

India took complete control of the second Test as they ended the opening day on a strong 276 for three when stumps were drawn.

At the Lord's Cricket Ground in London, India made the most of the invitation of being asked to bat by England on a day where dark clouds hovered over the ground. The India innings did not start on time because of rains, but thereafter play picked up and we got a full day's play.

Earlier, India was well served by their openers Rohit Sharma (83: 145b, 185m, 11x4, 1x6) and Lokesh Rahul. The openers added 126 for the opening wicket. The openers seemed inseparable as none of the English bowlers created any impression on them. It was left to veteran James Anderson to strike not once but twice. Anderson first dismissed Sharma and then snared Cheteshwar Pujara for just nine.

Then Rahul took over as he shared a 117-run third wicket stand with skipper Virat Kohli. Rahul hit his fourth Test century outside Asia, putting him on level with Virender Sehwag. Rahul finished the day on 127 with 12 boundaries and a six off 248 balls.

Late in the day, Kohli was dismissed for 42.

For England, the best bowlers were Anderson (2-52) and Robinson (1-47).

England made three changes to their XI from the Trent Bridge Test bringing in Haseeb Hameed, Moeen Ali and Mark Wood in place of Dan Lawrence, Zak Crawley and Stuart Broad. India made one forced change bringing in Ishant Sharma in place of Shardul Thakur.

KL Rahul stars with a century as India go to stumps at 276/3 on the opening day of the Lord's Test.#WTC23 | #ENGvIND | https://t.co/rhWT86mZ0z pic.twitter.com/QFVsFGErAd
— ICC (@ICC) August 12, 2021

Match Summary
India 1st Innings: 276-3 (90)
Fall of wickets: 1-126 (Rohit Sharma-43.4 ov), 2-150 (Cheteshwar Pujara-49.6 ov), 3-267 (Virat Kohli-84.4 ov)

Scorecard

Playing XI
England: Rory Burns, Dom Sibley, Haseeb Hameed, Joe Root (captain), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wicket-keeper), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Ollie Robinson, Mark Wood, James Anderson

India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujuara, Virat Kohli (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj

Match Details
Toss: England, elected to field
Venue: Lord's Cricket Ground, London
Start time: 1100 hrs UK Time
Match officials: Michael Gough, Richard Illingworth (On-field umpires); Richard Kettleborough (TV Umpire); Alex Wharf (TV Umpire); Chris Broad (Match-referee)