It was an absorbing first day at Lord’s with a good battle between bat and ball. It was hard work for both teams and at the end of it all, England will be the happier side at 251/4 in 83 overs, with Joe Root leading the way with 99*. But things could have been different had India held onto the only chance that was offered to them.
Nitish Kumar Reddy was given the ball after drinks, and he struck in the third ball of the innings when Ben Duckett was caught down the leg side. The very next ball he managed to find the edge of Ollie Pope who tried to lunge forward to drive away from the body. The ball got the outside edge where captain Shubman Gill got his hands to it and dived full length low to his right, but could not hold on at gully. Nitish ultimately dismissed Zak Crawley with a peach in that over but if he had 3 wickets in the over, his and India’s tail would have been up. But Pope made them pay.
Ollie Pope makes Shubman Gill and India pay with partnership with Joe Root.
The Indian bowlers bowled with great discipline throughout the day and more so in the morning session. But they could not get the breakthrough in the first hour. Nitish Kumar Reddy was brought on after Drinks and he struck straightaway getting rid of Ben Duckett caught down the leg side.
At 43/1 Ollie Pope walked in and faced Reddy. He edged the full length ball towards gully where Gill made an effort to dive low to his right to catch it but could not hold on as Pope got a life on 0. Reddy dismissed Crawley in the same over to end with 2 wickets to his name. But it could have been so different had that catch was taken.
Firstly, Harry Brook would have been exposed earlier and India would have had their tails up. They would have applied more pressure on England and they might have crumbled under it. But Pope made India pay by not only scoring 44 runs off 104 balls but stitching an important partnership with Joe Root.
Pope weathered the storm and played within himself to add a crucial 109 off 211 balls for the third wicket with Root to take England into a stronger position. England did not lose a single wicket between lunch and tea as this duo played old fashioned Test Cricket to take their side into a stronger position. Yes, Brook got out to Jadeja eventually but the damage was done.
Few experts felt that Shubman Gill was not standing at the right spot as he was not in the same line as the other fielders. That meant that he was a bit too deep and could not take the opportunity offered by Pope. This drop has proved to be really costly for India and may prove even so if England manages to score 400-450 and put scoreboard pressure on India. Nitish Reddy bowled his hearts out and was the pick of the bowlers for India as his lines and lengths troubled Joe Root the most compared to the other bowlers.
Slip Fielding: A Problem for India in this series
Shubman Gill has been a relatively safe fielder in this series until the dropped catch yesterday. But India’s slip fielding hasn’t been great in this series. They were great when the veterans like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma used to play as they hardly dropped catches in the last 5 years. But with this new young team in transition, things haven’t been that easy.
At Headingly, we remember India making a lot of unforced errors dropping as many as 8 catches in the whole Test match. That was the highest that India dropped in their history in the last 5 years. 4 of those were by Yashasvi Jaiswal which yielded 166 extra runs to the hosts. Ravindra Jadeja, off all people, dropped one as well. This meant that English batters got lives and made the most of them, and as a result, India lost the first Test, which they could have won.
India’s fielding improved at Edgbaston as they held onto their catches more often than not, and that meant they went on to win the game easily, as catches win matches is the old cliche. Still, towards the end of the game, KL Rahul dropped Brydon Carse when on 0 off Ravindra Jadeja. It did not cost India anything as they had enough runs and eventually won the match. But that was also a slip catch. In the Lord’s, they got one opportunity and they grasped what was a tough one, but it should have been taken by Gill. India find themselves slightly on the back foot at Stumps on Day 1.
What Lies Ahead
It was an old fashioned day of Test match cricket with England ending at 251/4 after 83 overs with Joe Root on the verge of his 37th Test ton. The aim for England will be to bat big and well to get over 400 runs, while India will aim to search for inroads with the second new ball and keep England down under 400. The stage is set for an intriguing battle on Day 2 at the Home of Cricket.
Which team will come out on top after Day 2? England had the honours after Day 1. Can India claw their way back in it on what will be another hot and sunny day at Lord’s? We shall find out when Day 2 commences at Lord’s.