Three balls into his return to Test cricket after three frustrating years of solitude, Jofra Archer sent the Lord’s crowd into a frenzy by claiming his first wicket.
Yashasvi Jaiswal had begun with a bang with three boundaries in Chris Woakes’ first over. Then Archer got one to seam away slightly and the opener nicked to the slip cordon.
Archer went on a celebratory run across the Lord’s turf. When the fast bowler had calmed down and it was time to greet new batter Karun Nair, he unleashed one at 93mph.
Having spent thousands of hours in rehab, it was Archer’s time to reap the rewards. This was after Jasprit Bumrah had run through the England middle-order in the morning session before a late resistance between Jamie Smith and Brydon Carse revived their innings.
India too recovered through Nair and KL Rahul who put on 61 runs for the second wicket. Nair, after a fighting 40, fell to a superb one-handed low catch by Joe Root at first slip. It was snatched barely inches off the turf and TV replays later confirmed it had been cleanly taken.
Shubman Gill failed to build on the start and was dismissed for 16. Rahul held the innings together and went to stumps unbeaten on 53. He holds much of India’s hopes of getting close to England’s 387 along with Rishabh Pant.
Jamie Smith of England attempts to stop the ball hitting his stumps with his foot during day two of the Third Test Match between England and India at Lord's
India hit the lengths immediately with the second new ball in the morning. Both Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj got the ball to move away and dart in regularly. Ben Stokes was lucky to survive a run-out, but the England captain was bowled in the next over by a Bumrah beauty.
Root followed after completing his 37th century and once Woakes went for a golden duck, it seemed the end was near. But India failed to get rid of Smith as Rahul put down a regulation slip catch off Siraj.
England's Jofra Archer celebrates with Shoaib Bashir after taking the wicket of India's Yashasvi Jaiswal
Smith continued to torment India with another half-century. He and Carse added 84 off 114 balls for the eighth wicket before Siraj dismissed both after Lunch to end England’s innings on 387.
Debate over Dukes
India’s unhappiness with the Dukes ball continued with Gill asking the umpires to change the second new ball — a mere 10.3 overs into its use. Gill spent the entire morning drinks break with umpires Paul Reiffel and Sharfuddoula dissatisfied with the replacement ball.
They didn’t have to deal with it for long though. Eight overs later, the replacement ball was replaced.