London: Joe Root ched together a dogged unbeaten 99 as England shed their usual aggressive ways, resorting to classical long format batting amid sustained pressure from the Indian bowlers to reach 251/4 on Day 1 of the Lord’s Test here on Thursday.
At stumps, Root was one run shy of his 37th Test hundred having negated 191 balls, and was batting alongside Ben Stokes (39 batting off 102).
They have put on 79 for the unfinished fifth wicket so far.
Opting to bat in a home game only for the second time in the Bazball era, England chose to bat with plenty of patience on a slow surface than being on the offensive — their usual mode of operation under Stokes.
The surface wore a greenish look on the eve of the game but looked flat before the toss as a sea of fans flocked to the iconic venue.
With the series locked at 1-1, the pitch had been a big talking point heading into the third Test.
India, having six bowling options, did not offer too many freebies though Edgbaston hero Akash Deep struggled to find his rhythm in his debut game here.
After a wicketless afternoon session, Ravindra Jadeja had Ollie Pope (44 off 104) caught behind first ball after tea with a ball that turned away from length. Five overs later, Jasprit Bumrah weaved his magic as he got one to nip back to pierce Harry Brook’s defense.
In the afternoon session, Rishabh Pant had an injury scare as an angled down leg ball from Bumrah crashed into his left fingertips, forcing him to leave the field.
Dhruv Jurel substituted in his absence and did a fine job. Pant’s injury, however, is not serious and he is expected to resume wicketkeeping duties on Friday.
India kept England’s run rate in check but Root and Pope chugged along to take the hosts to 153/2 at tea.
England, known for their ultra-aggressive approach, had a rather subdued session by their standards with Root and Pope going back to classical Test match batting approach.
They were happy to leave balls outside the off-stump to ensure that no damage was done. A total of 70 runs were scored from 24 overs in the middle session.
Root brought up his fifty with a boundary in the fine-leg region.
In the morning, India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy struck twice in an eventful over to leave England at 83 for two at lunch.
On expected lines, Prasidh Krishna made way for Bumrah as the sole change in the Indian playing eleven.
The trio of Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohamed Siraj did ask a few questions but England opening duo of Ben Duckett (23 off 40) and Zak Crawley (18 off 43) survived the first hour of play, reaching 39 for no loss in 13 overs.