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Root, Pope unbeaten at tea as England go slow and steady at Lord's

For India, Rishabh Pant walked off the field due to a finger injury, with Dhruv Jurel coming on as substitute wicketkeeper

ESPNcricinfo staff
10-Jul-2025 • 6 hrs ago
The century stand between Ollie Pope and Joe Root took its time, England vs India, 3rd Test, Lord's, London, Day 1, July 10, 2025

The century stand between Ollie Pope and Joe Root took its time  •  Getty Images

Tea England 153 for 2 (Root 54*, Pope 44*, Reddy 2-35) vs India
Joe Root and Ollie Pope batted through an uncharacteristically sedate second session at Lord's, as India plugged away without rewards in the London sun and lost Rishabh Pant to a finger injury. England's third-wicket stand had reached an unbroken 108 runs by tea, with Root and Pope adding 70 since the lunch interval.
The stump microphones picked up Mohammed Siraj telling Root that he wanted to see some "Bazball" but England eschewed their usual attacking intent with the bat. India's seamers went wide outside off stump, hanging in and waiting for a mistake that never came as Pope and Root left the ball alone and played with huge restraint.
Root became the first man to get to 3000 Test runs against India shortly before going past fifty for the 103rd time in Tests, equalling Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting's tallies, with only Sachin Tendulkar (119) ahead of him. He handed the strike to Pope during Jasprit Bumrah's five-over spell after lunch, facing only two balls, and put away occasional bad balls from Nitish Kumar Reddy.
It was Reddy who prised the game open for India in the morning session, removing both England openers in his first over after Ben Stokes had chosen to bat first. But Reddy and the rest of the Indian attack struggled with the softer ball. Shubman Gill eventually convinced the umpires to change it after 43 overs, but the replacement did not appear to move significantly more.
Pant's injury was a concern for India. He hurt his index finger while attempting to gather a rare ball down the leg side from Bumrah, and received treatment on the field before trying to continue. But after five balls, he left the field and continued to receive medical attention in the dressing room, as substitute fielder Dhruv Jurel deputised behind the stumps.

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