Root leads fightback after Reddy rocks England in third Test

Joe Root showed his class by making runs on a hard-fought and attritional day of Test match cricket to be 99 not out as England reached 251/4 in 83 overs against India at stumps on Day One of third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series at the Lord's in London on Thursday.

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On a hot sunny day at the iconic venue, runs came slowly but that did not mean the cricket was any less absorbing for both teams, especially with England playing in an anti-Bazball style, as seen from their run-scoring pace being at just 3.02 runs per over on a pitch which isn't exactly a batting paradise.

Root, who curbed his instincts to hit only nine boundaries in his unbeaten knock coming off 191 balls, will come back on Day Two to reach his 37th Test hundred, 11th against India and eighth at the Lord's. It was a day on which grinding and being boring suited England and Root, after the crowd cheered them on when they won the toss and elected to bat first.

Root was involved in a partnership of 109 for the third wicket with Ollie Pope, who made 44 and at the close of day one, he is in an unbroken 79-run stand with his skipper Ben Stokes, who reached 39 not out off 102 balls despite limping due to a niggle.

For India, they will feel happy about keeping things tight, with Nitish Kumar Reddy, Jasprit Bumrah, and Ravindra Jadeja being amongst the wicket-takers. They will also be hoping that Rishabh Pant is cleared to keep wickets on day two, after he went off the field due to a blow on his left index finger.