Eng: 357/6 after 81 overs (Woakes 120, Curran 22)

Play has been officially called off for the day. England have built up a healthy lead of exactly 250. India started the day well and dominated the first session but then England built up partnerships and wrested control of the game. England were 131 for 5 when Woakes came in to bat but then his 189-run partnership with Bairstow took the game away from India very quickly.

Eng: 357/6 after 81 overs (Woakes 120, Curran 22)

First over with the new ball and we see some big movement for Ishant. But the batsmen aren’t under too much pressure, the runs continue to flow as well. Play stopped due to bad light.

Eng: 350/6 after 80 overs (Woakes 116, Curran 19)

New ball is now available and it has been taken. The light isn’t too great now and the lights are on. This could mean quick runs or quick wickets. Something should happen.

Eng: 346/6 after 79 overs (Woakes 112, Curran 19)

Pandya has battled on gamely but as Ganguly said on air, India just haven’t set the right kind of fields for him.

Eng: 320/6 after 73.4 overs (Woakes 106)

WICKET! And Hardik strikes. An edgy Bairstow, who had been stuck in the 90s for a while, gives it away. He went for the extravagant drive, got the edge and a diving Karthik managed to hold on to the catch behind the wicket. His partnership with Woakes was worth 189 runs.

It was a classic innings and it rescued England

M Bairstow c Karthik b Pandya 93 (144b, 12x4)

Eng: 315/5 after 73 overs (Bairstow 93, Woakes 105)

A review after an LBW shot by Kuldeep against Bairstow but the replays showed that the impact was outside the line of the off-stump.

Eng: 308/5 after 73 overs (Bairstow 92, Woakes 103)

Slow and steady but too many easy singles on offer. England have taken 84 singles in the innings already.

Eng: 307/5 after 72 overs (Bairstow 92, Woakes 102)

England lead by 200 runs with 5 wickets remaining in the innings. The question now is whether the England team have a total in mind before they declare the innings? Do they want to put India in to bat before the close of play?

Eng: 304/5 after 71 overs (Bairstow 91, Woakes 100)

A shot over the infield and we have a wonderful, wonderful century for Woakes. 100 off 129 balls in 167 minutes. A superb knock that has placed England in command of this Test match. If the weather gods permit, India will have a very tough time saving this match.

Eng: 299/5 after 70 overs (Bairstow 90, Woakes 96)

Both batsmen are into the 90s but the run continue to flow. In the last 10 overs alone, England have scored 57 runs. This is poor captaincy. Virat has been off the field for a while with a stiff back.

Eng: 291/5 after 69 overs (Bairstow 83, Woakes 95)

A few loose shots but England are completely in charge here. India are motoring along without any direction or purpose here. Really... what is India trying to do here?

Eng: 285/5 after 68 overs (Bairstow 82, Woakes 90)

Another four to bring up their 150-run partnership. It has taken them just 220 balls. England lead by 178 runs with 5 wickets remaining in the innings.

Eng: 272/5 after 65 overs (Bairstow 79, Woakes 80)

11 runs from the Ishant Sharma over and Woakes is doing most of the heavy lifting now with some wonderful shots all around the park. He has gone past Bairstow now. Kohli and India are letting the game drift here. Dhoni would have tried something. Ganguly would have tried something. Kohli seems to be sitting back and hoping something will happen. Where is the ‘intent’?

Eng: 258/5 after 63 overs (Bairstow 79, Woakes 66)

Lead is beyond 150 now. Bairstow and Woakes are taking full toll of anything even remotely loose. And it isn’t crazy hitting. They are being very smart about it.

Eng: 254/5 after 62 overs (Bairstow 75, Woakes 66)

Woakes has equalled his highest score in Test matches and he is looking so good. Kohli decided that he didn’t need fielders in the deep for Woakes against Ashwin and the allrounder responded by hitting two fours in the over. Superb stuff.

Eng: 236/5 after 59 overs (Bairstow 67, Woakes 56)

It is cloudy again and the ball is starting to do a bit. Shami got one to cut back in a big way but then another loose ball gave Buttler four runs. That has been the difference between Shami/Ishant and Anderson – the control.

Eng: 232/5 after 58 overs (Bairstow 63, Woakes 56)

Lovely over by Ashwin. Control and lots of variation. The off-spinner has switched ends and that seems to have an impact. He got one to turn big, one to go past the outside edge. Wonderful bowling, this.

Eng: 231/5 after 56 overs (Bairstow 62, Woakes 56)

And the 100-run partnership between Bairstow and Woakes comes up. It has taken just 149 balls and taken the game away from India.

Eng: 230/5 after 55 overs (Bairstow 62, Woakes 55)

And that is tea. 30.2 overs, 141 runs, 1 wickets.

England have a lead of 123, the partnership between Bairstow and Woakes is worth 99 and the hosts are in complete control. It has helped that the runs have come at a fair clip and India have almost always been under the gun.

Eng: 228/5 after 54 overs (Bairstow 60, Woakes 55)

51 off 71 balls, 7 fours. Inside edge, french cut for four to get Woakes to his fifty. And the allrounder has also almost caught up with Bairstow now. This match might very go down as Woakes match. He averages less than 10 with the ball in matches at Lord’s and now, he is showing that he can bat here as well.

Eng: 218/5 after 53 overs (Bairstow 60, Woakes 45)

Woakes nearing another fifty, Bairstow looking very solid now and India are looking a little deflated here. This session has not been good for India at all. England lead by 111 runs.

Eng: 212/5 after 51 overs (Bairstow 56, Woakes 43)

England are cruising and India are running short of ideas and a seam bowler too. After the first day was rained out, should Kohli have thought differently? Should he have made space for another seamer?

Eng: 200/5 after 49 overs (Bairstow 55, Woakes 32)

The partnership between Bairstow-Woakes has already been worth 69 runs and has come at a RR of 3.86. Worrying for India. The bowlers are starting to look tired.

Eng: 196/5 after 48 overs (Bairstow 54, Woakes 29)

Ishant back into the attack and he gives away four runs. He just hasn’t been able to keep the line tight today. He usually does that so well but today, he has been taken for enough runs right through his spells.

Eng: 192/5 after 47 overs (Bairstow 51, Woakes 28)

Loose ball from Ashwin and Woakes gave it the treatment. He cut it away for four. England lead by 85 runs and they have scored more than a 100 runs after lunch for the loss of just one wicket.

Eng: 187/5 after 46 overs (Bairstow 51, Woakes 23)

First 50 partnership of the match. Bairstow 28, Woakes 23. 52 from 87 balls. In the context of the match, this is big.

A few balls later, Bairstow hits another four – the second in the over – to get to his fifty. First player to score fifty in the match. It has taken him just 76 balls.

England lead by 80 runs now.

Eng: 179/5 after 45 overs (Bairstow 43, Woakes 23)

Ashwin: 4 overs, 8 runs. If nothing else, he is giving Kohli some control of the run-rate. And that is what he needs his spinners to do.

Eng: 179/5 after 44 overs (Bairstow 43, Woakes 23)

All spin now. Kuldeep and Ashwin from either end. England have played Kuldeep well. Either full forward or completely back. 5 singles from the over.

Eng: 173/5 after 42 overs (Bairstow 41, Woakes 19)

England lead by 66 runs. One loose ball to end the over – really wide and Bairstow helped himself to four easy run.

Eng: 165/5 after 41 overs (Bairstow 35, Woakes 18)

One lovely four down the ground. Ashwin threw it up and Bairstow took up the challenge. He didn’t attempt to smash it out of the park but just the right timing. The lead is upto 58 runs.

Eng: 161/5 after 40 overs (Bairstow 31, Woakes 18)

Another steady over. The ball is old now and not doing as much as it once was. Reverse swing might be the way to go. It does surprise one that Ishant has not been given longer spells. He was getting the ball to reverse in a big way.

Eng: 159/5 after 39 overs (Bairstow 30, Woakes 17)

Finally! Ashley is in to bowl. It was a long wait. Not a lot of spin but we will have to see how he operates. If nothing else, Ashwin will have better control than Kuldeep did in the morning.

Eng: 157/5 after 38 overs (Bairstow 29, Woakes 16)

Hardik comes into the attack even as England’s lead is now 50 runs. Woakes has settled in well and seems to have the knack of finding a gap.

Eng: 151/5 after 37 overs (Bairstow 29, Woakes 10)

Maiden over. The camera keeps panning to Ashwin and then back to Kohli. One can totally imagine Ashwin getting a big round of applause when he finally gets a bowl. Just how many wickets did he take in the last game?

Eng: 151/5 after 36 overs (Bairstow 29, Woakes 10)

Another decent over. But Ishant and Shami have been expensive. Ishant has an ER of 4.27 and Shami is over 4 as well. They have been looking for the wickets and that might explain some of it. This is where the class of an Anderson is clear. His ER is almost always great. How India are missing Bhuvi in these conditions.

Eng: 142/5 after 35 overs (Bairstow 25, Woakes 6)

India went for a review in the Ishant over. They thought there was an inside edge onto the pads before it looped to Ishant for a return catch. The review showed that the ball was nowhere close to the bat though. The other noise might have been from the ball hitting the helmet. Ishant is getting some good reverse here.

Eng: 141/5 after 34 overs (Bairstow 24, Woakes 6)

A better side would have shut India out of this game but England are struggling to do that. They have given India a look in and that makes things interesting. They did the same in the first Test too. They keep allowing India to make a comeback. The lead is up to 34 runs.

Eng: 137/5 after 33 overs (Bairstow 21, Woakes 5)

Another decent over by Ishant, a superb bouncer to Woakes stood out. The Aussies had singled out the England allrounder for the short ball treatment and he had not liked it much. India will look to do the same.

Eng: 135/5 after 32 overs (Bairstow 20, Woakes 4)

Woakes is in, ahead of Curran who got a vital fifty in the last game. But Shami is feeling very good at the moment; he is charged up and is looking dangerous.

Eng: 131/5 after 31.1 overs (Bairstow 20)

WICKET! Another full delivery and another batsman trapped LBW. Buttler was moving across his stumps and Shami pitched that up, it moved in the air and that was that. He’s walking back and India needed this badly. The partnership with Bairstow was worth 42 runs in 6.3 overs.

J Buttler lbw b Mohammed Shami 24 (22b, 4x4)

Eng: 131/4 after 31 overs (Bairstow 20, Buttler 24)

The runs continue to flow. The lead has swelled to 23 runs now. India need to regain control. Give Ashwin a bowl? Get Hardik back? What can Kohli do now?

Eng: 124/4 after 30 overs (Bairstow 20, Buttler 17)

England have scored runs at a scary pace after lunch. At lunch, the hosts were 89/4 after 24.4 overs. Now, they are 124/4 after 30 overs. They have scored at 7 RPO since play resumed. This sort of run-rate should worry Kohli no end. It could mean that the match will move away from them very quickly. Kohli needs some control here.

Last 10 overs, England have scored 54 runs for the loss of 2 wickets.

Eng: 116/4 after 29 overs (Bairstow 12, Buttler 17)

Edges and quick singles. In the last over from Ishant, two inside edges from Bairstow’s bat missed the stumps. But the runs continue to come for England. There is enough to keep Ishant and Shami interested but India would love a wicket now.

Eng: 110/4 after 28 overs (Bairstow 11, Buttler 12)

England have the lead now. The ball is still doing a bit and expect Shami and Ishant to continue for a while but it is surprising that 28 overs into the innings, Ashwin has not got a single over. Didn’t expect it to happen after lunch anyway. Still...

Eng: 104/4 after 27 overs (Bairstow 7, Buttler 11)

First fifty runs took 81 balls, the second fifty took 77. This is now all about how much of a lead England can get and can India restrict them to something manageable? A fascinating session is in store.

Eng: 99/4 after 26 overs (Bairstow 6, Buttler 7)

Seven runs from the over and in a low-scoring match, the runs matter. It doesn’t matter how you get them because you know that scoreboard pressure can affect batsmen in a big way. Bairstow and Buttler aren’t going to hang around either.

Eng: 92/4 after 25 overs (Bairstow 5, Buttler 1)

The clouds have rolled in while the teams were having lunch. Shami started off with a no-ball but India will want a wicket early. They get that and they are into the allrounders. Then, anything is possible.

At Lunch

England are only 18 runs away from India’s first-innings total. If India had somehow managed to put on a few more runs on board, they would have really fancied their chances from this point on. Ashwin hasn’t bowled a single over yet.

Ishant 6-1-26-1
Shami 8.4-3-27-2
Kuldeep 4-1-15-0
Hardik 6-0-15-1

Eng: 89/4 after 24.4 overs (Bairstow 4)

WICKET! Shami strikes, got one to jag back into the batsman, the ball didn’t bounce and there was no doubt. And that is lunch. India have had a pretty brilliant session. The conditions have certainly not been as helpful as yesterday but the bowlers have stuck to their task. The bounce will worry them though. Root just never looked comfortable today.

J Root lbw b Mohammed Shami 19 (53b, 2x4)

Eng: 84/3 after 24 overs (Root 17, Bairstow 1)

Hardik in the middle of a good spell (6-0-15-1). He is doing enough to ensure that the pressure isn’t off the batsmen. Getting the odd delivery to something and go past the bat. This is precisely the kind of impact he needs to make as an allrounder.

Eng: 82/3 after 23 overs (Root 16, Bairstow 0)

England trail by 25 runs with 7 wickets in hand. Vital that India don’t allow England to score too many in this first innings.

Eng: 77/3 after 21.2 overs (Root 11)

WICKET! And Hardik strikes. The confident looking Pope is now walking back, trapped LBW by Pandya. The bowler went wide at the bowling crease and fired it in. Pope couldn’t cope with the angle. Pretty much how Stokes got Rahane in the last game – the movement was more exaggerated then but the idea was the same. The decision was reviewed but it didn’t do England any good. They have lost both their reviews now.

O Pope lbw b Pandya 28 (38b, 3x4)

Eng: 75/2 after 21 overs (Root 11, Pope 26)

Shami into the attack, replacing Kuldeep. He gets a couple to go past the outside edge. You immediately notice that the quality of bowling is better. Kohli might be rethinking the decision to play Kuldeep ahead of Umesh.

Eng: 70/2 after 20 overs (Root 11, Pope 21)

Still no Ashwin? How does one explain this? He was one of India’s best bowlers in the first Test, has great control of flight and length, good variations too. But he just hasn’t got a bowl yet.

Eng: 68/2 after 19 overs (Root 10, Pope 20)

A bit of a lull. Not much happening for the bowlers, Pope and Root are looking comfortable, India need a wicket here. They need a wicket now.

Eng: 63/2 after 18 overs (Root 8, Pope 17)

Almost seems like India would have liked another seamer instead of a spinner. Historically, seamers have done the job here but Kohli might have gambled a bit here. Still, for any of that to matter, India needed to have put on more runs when they batted. England trail by just 44 runs now.

Eng: 59/2 after 17 overs (Root 7, Pope 14)

Maiden over by Kuldeep. Root missed out on a few full tosses here but surprising to see Ashwin being kept out of the attack given his performance in the last Test.

Eng: 59/2 after 16 overs (Root 7, Pope 14)

Pope looking very positive in the middle and already cutting a better figure than Malan. England have picked themselves up after those two quick wickets. In a sense, the pressure is off too – Ishant and Shami, the frontline seamers are getting a break.

Eng: 57/2 after 15 overs (Root 7, Pope 12)

Three good deliveries from Kuldeep to start the over but then Pope came up with a wonderful backfoot punch to get four off the fourth bat. He picked up the length quickly and seemed to have read the googly too.

Eng: 52/2 after 14 overs (Root 7, Pope 7)

Hardik into the attack and time for him to show why he is rated as an all-rounder. He needs to put in a long spell and ensure that the pressure isn’t taken off the batsmen. Keep in tight and sneak in a wicket or two. He is getting a hint of seam movement.

Eng: 49/2 after 13 overs (Root 5, Pope 6)

Kuldeep into the attack ahead of Ashwin or even Hardik and he has a poor over. Lacking control and Root helped himself to a four as well. Nervous start.

Eng: 38/2 after 12 overs (Root 1, Pope 5)

Vital few overs for India coming up as Ishant and Shami come to the end of their spells. If they can get another wicket or two here, it will allow the spinners to put instant pressure. That is the end of the first hour of play and India have done pretty well in conditions that one would not describe as hostile for the batsmen.

Ollie Pope is the 10th youngest to play for England and he has looked pretty confident so far. But how will he face up to the challenge of spin?

Eng: 38/2 after 11 overs (Root 1, Pope 5)

Every once in a while the ball is going past Root’s bat. The England batting line-up is deep but they will have to want to bat just once in this Test if possible. How many more overs will Kohli give the pacemen?

Eng: 36/2 after 10 overs (Root 0, Pope 4)

Suddenly, everything is going India’s way. The last 3-4 overs have seen India take things up a gear or two. Shami isn’t getting big movement but the seam is upright and his wrist position is solid as always. Root is playing and missing a bit – not how we are used to seeing him.

Eng: 32/2 after 8.2 overs (Root 0)

WICKET! And Ishant gets Root now. Within the space of five balls, England have lost their openers. Cook was looking very good but this was a superb delivery by Ishant. Just on and around the off-stump... moving away... Cook played at it and got the edge to the keeper. India are back. Here we go. That switch to around the wicket helped.

A Cook c Karthik b Sharma 21 (25b, 4x4)

Eng: 28/1 after 7.3 overs (Cook 17)

WICKET! Shami gets the breakthrough. Traps Jennings in front of his stumps. The batsman went in for the review but it didn’t do him any good. For once, Shami actually pitched it up. Big wicket for India as the partnership was starting to look dangerous.

K Jennings lbw b Mohammed Shami 11 (22b)

Eng: 28/0 after 7 overs (Cook 17, Jennings 11)

Wonderful straight drive for four in the over gone by. It was full and Cook timed it perfectly. Just a push, he wasn’t trying to hit it too hard. He didn’t need to. Time to get Ashwin into the attack one would think. If Cook gets set, he can score the ‘Big Daddy’ hundreds.

Eng: 21/0 after 6 overs (Cook 13, Jennings 8)

First innings Shami has turned up today and as most India cricket fans will agree, that is not a good thing. The paceman seems to be struggling with his rhythm so far and Kohli will dearly hope that changes in the short term. England trail by 86 runs with 10 wickets in hand.

Eng: 20/0 after 5 overs (Cook 13, Jennings 7)

Maiden over. Ishant has finally opted to change the angle and come over the wicket to the batsmen. He has got more movement and certainly made the batsmen play at more deliveries. He should have been doing this from the first over.

Eng: 20/0 after 4 overs (Cook 13, Jennings 7)

India are bowling yesterday’s length today. The conditions have changed dramatically and India need to alter their approach accordingly. Cook seems to be striking the ball well today and Kohli might want to bring in Ashwin for a short spell at the opener.

Eng: 14/0 after 3 overs (Cook 9, Jennings 4)

Ishant still isn’t quite hitting the length with the regularity he needs to trouble top batsmen. Another poor delivery – on the pads – allowed Cook to get his second four of the innings. This is poor bowling from India. They have not been able to put any pressure of the batsmen so far.

Meanwhile, the folks at ESPNCricinfo have dug up some wonderful stats to show the startling rise of Anderson in the second part of his career.

Eng: 9/0 after 2 overs (Cook 5, Jennings 4)

Five runs from Shami’s first over – including a four off the last ball – his line was all over the place. Nasser Hussain, on air, speaking about how tight India’s slip cordon is. It almost seems like a disaster waiting to happen.

Eng: 4/0 after 1 over (Cook 1, Jennings 3)

Ishant Sharma takes the new ball and doesn’t do much with it. His radar was a bit off with many deliveries being bowled on the legs or outside the leg-stump. Still early days, but no extravagant movement for Ishant. In a sense, Ishant is similar to Broad, who didn’t get too much swing yesterday. Maybe Shami can get it to move more.

Magical Ishant

The last time Ishant Sharma was at the Lord’s, he turned up with a magical performance to take 7-74. Here’s a quick look at the 2014 Test:

Play

It comes down to this

India’s dependence on Kohli is scary. What is perhaps scarier is that India’s next highest scorer on the tours of SA and Eng (so far) is Hardik Pandya.

Good for batting today

It now seems like the pitch has suddenly morphed into the one that Kohli wanted at the toss.

Pic courtesy: Lord's Cricket Ground.

The rot starts at the top

Kushal Phatarpekar on India’s batting woes.

“The openers have been become party of a game of musical chairs, which has robbed all involved a chance to settle into their roles. Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul have exchanged places on several occasions in the past year. The lack of clarity reached its peak at the toss as Dhawan was dropped after one match.”

Host country Innings Runs Highest partnership
Australia 8 248 56
England 13 288 50
South Africa 10 198 41
New Zealand 4 49 36

Read the FULL piece HERE

Not about pace

James Anderson’s bowling speed in the first 10 overs today was 128.81kph. That’s the slowest he’s bowled with the new ball in Tests in over two years. It just goes to show that he went all out on control and that is what the Indian bowlers will need to do as well.

Sublime Woakes

44% of Chris Woakes’ deliveries this evening brought a false shot. The average in Tests is 14%. Woakes now has 16 Test wickets at Lord’s, at an average of 9.93. No player has both more wickets and a better average than Woakes on this ground.

‘We’d bowl most teams in the world out’

James Anderson after Day 2: “Some days it hoops round - they’ve been quite rare actually, the days we’ve had like that, movement through the air as much as that - but for us, with the experience we’ve had of bowling on flat decks and the ball doing nothing, when you get the opportunity like that you lick your lips and try to show off your skills. To be honest, I think that if we bowled like that today, with those conditions, we’d bowl most teams in the world out - because I think we were that good. I think if we were bowling at our batsmen, we’d have the better of them too. We exploit those conditions as well as anyone in the world.”

A seamer short?

England had four proper seamers to take advantage of the swing friendly conditions. Their lone spinner did not even get a single over. India, on the other hand, have picked two spinners but they will expect Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami and Hardik Pandya to do the same.

Weather report

It is a bright sunny day at Lord’s.

Day 1

James Anderson took five wickets as India were bowled out for just 107 come the close of the second day of the second Test against England at Lord’s on Friday.

Anderson’s haul left England’s all-time leading Test wicket-taker just one shy of becoming the first bowler to take 100 Test wickets at Lord’s.

Meanwhile Chris Woakes marked his return to international cricket with two wickets for 19 runs in six overs, removing both India captain Virat Kohli (24) and Hardik Pandya (11) via slip catches by Jos Buttler.

Much of the second day was lost to rain, which washed out the whole of Thursday’s play.

But the 35.2 overs that England bowled after winning the toss were enough for them to dismiss India, with Anderson ending the day’s play when Ishant Sharma was lbw for nought.

Anderson took five for 20 in 13.2 overs while Ravichandran Ashwin top-scored for India with 29.

England lead this five-match series 1-0 after a 31-run victory in the first Test at Edgbaston last week. (AFP)