Match Report
KL Rahul Scores Ton To Put India On Top, Twitter Reacts
By Aditya Pratap - Aug 13, 2021 12:12 am
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England and India were sweating over the fitness of their players coming into the second Test at Lord’s. While England were already without their key players in Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer and Chris Woakes, they received another jolt in form of Stuart Broad, who is ruled out of the India series with a calf injury. On the other hand, India lost their new-found fast-bowling all-rounder Shardul Thakur for a hamstring injury.

KL Rahul and Virat Kohli

England chopped and changed their playing XI in search to find a perfect balance. Haseeb Hameed, at last, found his way back to England Test side after playing his last Test in 2016 and replaced Zak Crawley. Moeen Ali replaced Dan Lawrence while Mark Wood came in place of injured Broad.

Also Read: KL Rahul is keen to revive his Test career with England series

Joe Root won the toss. Rather, Virat Kohli lost yet another toss with England deciding to bowl first. Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul continued their good form from Nottingham and put 126-run opening stand – India’s first outside Asia since January 2011. Rohit was looking in his element but an in-ducker from James Anderson got better of him for 83.

Despite having only two wickets to show after his name, Anderson bowled at his usual best and removed Cheteshwar Pujara just before the Tea Break. Both of those wickets were a result of Anderson’s mastery with the ball.

Rahul took the baton from Rohit from there on and dominated England bowlers after getting his eyes in. Virat Kohli joined him in the middle and looked a bit iffy early in his innings. Kohli, though, denied throwing his wicket and shared a crucial 117-run stand with Rahul for the third wicket.

Also Read: KL Rahul reveals the changes he has made to improve his batting in Tests

In the process, Rahul notched up a memorable century at Lord’s – his first in Tests since scoring 149 against England at The Oval in 2018. His innings was as flawless as one can think of. Things were slipping away from England’s hands with both Rahul and Kohli were looking ominous to take the game further away from England’s reach. Kohli, against the flow of the game, got out to Ollie Robinson after scoring 42 runs.

KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma shared a 126-run opening stand

Ajinkya Rahane walked out in the middle at Lord’s with fond memories of his memorable century at the very same place in 2014. He ensured there was no further damage by England pacers with India being 276/3 at the stumps. Rahul is going strong with 127 runs under his belt while Rahane is batting on 1.

By the stumps of day one at Lord’s, it turned out to be a good toss to lose for Virat Kohli.

See how Twitter reacted to this game;

Tags Ajinkya RahaneEnglandJames AndersonJoe RootKL RahulLords testRohit SharmaTeam Indiavirat kohli

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