India managed to break the deadlock at the stroke of lunch as England reached 173 for five needing another 146 runs from the remaining two sessions to win the second cricket Test here on Monday.
The match again hangs in the balance after Ishant Sharma got the dogged Moeen Ali (39) out with a rising delivery which he fended awkwardly to be caught by Cheteshwar Pujara at short leg. This was after a fighting 101 run stand for the fifth wicket with Joe Root (52*), who is again looking good for a big score.
Ishant (3—47) was in fact smashed for 13 runs in the previous over by Root, who struck three of his five boundaries in that single over. While Root has faced 126 balls so far, Ali played 147 balls hitting five fours. The duo defied Indian bowlers for close to 45 overs.
Earlier, the session belonged entirely to the two English batsmen as they started the day at the overnight score of 105/4. Play began under overcast skies and floodlights were switched on as well but that didn’t deter Root or Ali.
The heavy roller had been used on the morning pitch and perhaps it helped calm the pitch down. Even so, the bowling was tight as they gave away only 35 runs in the first 16 overs.
As the batsmen got set, runs started flowing, 68 runs off 30 overs coming in the session. To their credit, the two batsmen never presented any straightforward chance to the Indians, grinding their bowling attack. Dhoni tried many different ploys but it didn’t help matters as the 150-run mark came up in the 70th over.
Root then shifted gears and started stroking some quick boundaries to bring up his fifty off 122 balls, in the 74th over of the innings, while in the very next, the 100-run partnership between the two batsmen also came up.
Scoreboard at lunch on the fifth day of the second Test between England and India at Lord’s:
India 1st Innings: 295
England 1st Innings: 319
India 2nd Innings: 342
England 2nd Innings (overnight 105 for 4)
Sam Robson lbw b Jadeja 7
Alastair Cook c Dhoni b Sharma 22
Gary Ballance c Dhoni b Shami 27
Ian Bell b Sharma 1
Joe Root not out 52
Mooen Ali c Pujara b Sharma 39
Extras: (B—9, LB—15, W—1) 25
Total: (For 5 wkts; 76 overs) 173
Fall of wickets: 1—12, 2—70, 3—71, 4—72.
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 16—7—21—0, Mohamed Shami 10—3—23—1, Ishant Sharma 17—6—47—3, Ravindra Jadeja 27—6—45—1, Murali Vijay 4—1—11—0, Shikhar Dhawan 2—0—2—0.