India still ahead despite Anderson-led England fightback on day 2 of 2nd test

(Cricket news) At the end of day 2 in the Lords test, England are 119 for 3 and 245 runs behind India in the first innings. India started the day at 276 for 3. James Anderson picked up his 31st five-wicket haul in test cricket to lead an English fightback.

Centurian KL Rahul threw his wicket away on the 2nd ball of the day as he played a juicy half volley straight to the covers fielder. Ajinkya Rahane nicked Anderson's delivery towards first slip as he continued his bad form. Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja started building a partnership. Pant started counter attacking by playing inside out shots against Anderson and putting away Robinson's short balls square of the wicket. Jadeja was being watchful on the other hand scoring just 1 run off 29 balls. Pant was dismissed by Mark Wood on 39. India's tail was cleaned up shortly after despite Jadeja scoring 40 runs to continue his valuable contribution with the willow. Indian innings ended with 364 runs which might be less than what they targeted before the start of the day but was a decent total nevertheless.

Anderson was once again the main man to get the wickets, he received decent support from Moeen Ali and Ollie Robinson, but Sam Curran was once again ineffective with the ball mainly due to his lack of pace and height.

England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley were under massive pressure to perform and did manage to play out 14 overs before tea. Mohammed Siraj changed the tide in the very first over after tea as he got two wickets in two balls. Dom Sibley for the second test in succession chipped a ball out leg stump straight into the hands of short mid-wicket.

Also read: KL Rahul frustrated at missing out on bigger hundred at Lord's

Haseeb Hameed, facing the first ball on his international return, missed the line completely. The ball didn't do much and stayed straight throughout but Hameed couldn't get any bat on it. Joe Root and Rory Burns steadied the ship for a while. Virat Kohli's DRS decisions were once again way off as India lost two reviews in the same over. Burns was trapped leg before by Mohommed Shami after a well made 49. Root and Jonny Bairstow batted out till stumps as England were 119 for 3.

Siraj and Shami were the pick of the bowlers. Ishant Sharma produced a lot of edges but none of them carried to the slip corden or even the Wicketkeeper on one instance. India are still on top but it could all change in the 1st session of day 3. If England manage to bat the session without losing a wicket then India will lose their advantage. Joe Root is once again England's biggest hope but he needs someone to hang around with him. 

Player of the Day: James Anderson

39-year-old Anderson is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. Anderson had a niggle before the game but was still declared fit. His inclusion in the side had such a big influence in the game. Anderson took the wickets of Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharma on day 1. He started day 2 in grand fashion after getting rid of Ajinkya Rahane in his first ball. This England bowling attack which is already missing Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes and Stuart Broad would've been toothless with Anderson. The veteran seamer will be even more crucial in the second innings and indeed for the rest of the series.

SHARE:

Share The Article:

Leave A Reply