India kept England’s run rate in check but Joe Root and Ollie Pope chugged along to take the hosts to 153 for two at tea on day one of the Lord’s Test here on Thursday.

England, known for their ultra-aggressive approach, had a rather subdued session by their standards with Root (54 batting off 109 balls) and Pope (44 batting off 103) 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, scoring a mere 70 runs from 24 overs in the session.

From India’s point of view, Rishabh Pant had an injury scare as angled down the leg ball from Jasprit Bumrah crashed into his left fingertips, forcing him to leave the field.

Dhruv Jurel replaced him behind the stumps.

Root brought up his fifty with a boundary in the fine-leg region.

In the morning session, 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.

Ben Stokes, only for the second time in the Bazball era, opted to bat in a home game.

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.

Due to the unique slope, the Indian bowlers understandably took some time to get used to the up and down nature of the ground while running in.

Bumrah bowled from both Pavillion End and Nursery end while Akash Deep, who took a match haul of 10 at Edgbaston, bowled with the new ball from Nursery end.

Captain Shubman Gill could have brought back Akash Deep after the first hour, instead, he gave the ball to Reddy from Nursery End and he did not disappoint.

The first breakthrough was a rather lucky one with Duckett gloving a short ball on the leg side to the wicket-keeper.

The following ball Ollie Pope could have been dismissed the very next ball but Gill could not latch on to a tough chance at gully.

The last ball of the over produced the wicket of Crawley. It was a beauty that seamed away from length, inducing an outside edge on the way to the keeper.

Though the crowd capacity at hallowed ground is little over 30,000, it seemed the whole of London was flocking to the venue with a sea of fans emerging from the St. John’s Wood tube station close by.

Test cricket may be struggling for regular attendance in some other nations but sell out crowds in this series so far have reaffirmed the fact that the traditional format continues to thrive in England.

Fans have also flown in from India for the marquee fixture with a family from Bengaluru shelling out as much as 1200 pounds for three tickets bought from touts outside the ground.

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