New Delhi: Nitish Reddy picked up two wickets and removed both England openers in the same over, but Joe Root and Ollie Pope steadied the ship as the hosts post 83/2 at Lunch on Day 1 of the ongoing 3rd Test at Lord’s in London on Thursday, July 1. The Three Lions got off to a good start as Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett stitched a 43-run partnership for the opening wicket.

Both openers batted carefully against the frontline seamers and were looking to build a big partnership, but Nitish took two wickets in the same over and helped India to make a comeback in the morning session. He bowled a short ball down the leg-side to Duckett, and he sensed an opportunity to hit a boundary and tried to play a pull shot, but gloved it to the right of the keeper.

On the last ball of the same over, he bowled a brilliant delivery that hooped in the corridor of uncertainty, and Crawley tried to play a shot, but the ball brushed his glove and flew straight to Pant behind the stumps. Nitish got the ball to angle in, and the seam position was brilliant as it nipped away and also got extra bounce. After two quick wickets, Root and Ollie Pope batted well and forged an unbeaten 39-run partnership for the third wicket.

Earlier, England captain Ben Stokes opted to bat in the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. Team India made one change in their playing XI from the last Test; Jasprit Bumrah came in place of Prasidh Krishna.

Bumrah returned to the team after sitting out the second match at Birmingham, while England fast bowler Jofra Archer will play his first Test since February 2021. He replaced Josh Tongue in the playing XI. The five-match Test series is currently levelled at 1-1 after the hosts won the opening Test by five wickets at Headingley and India won the Edgbaston Test by 336 runs.