Pataudi Trophy 2021, 2nd Test: Joe Root's unbeaten 180 hands 27-run lead at stumps on Day 3

India and England continued to battle hard in the second Test for the 2021 Pataudi Trophy at Lord's. The host had a strong outing on Day 3 while the visitor toiled to get rid of the English batsmen.

It was all about England on Day 3 of the second Test for the Pataudi Trophy 2021 at Lord's in London. Thanks to pacer Mohammed Siraj's four-for, the host was bundled out for 391, while skipper Joe Root stayed unbeaten on 180.

Earlier, India was invited to bat first, as it was shot out for 364 on Day 2, with opener Rohit Sharma (83) and KL Rahul (129) being the top scorers, while seamer James Anderson claimed a five-for. Meanwhile, England finished on 119/3 on Friday.

Resuming at the overnight score, it was all about Root and Bairstow, who frustrated the Indian bowlers, while both also scored their 51st and 22nd Test half-centuries, respectively, in the process. Eventually, they batted out for the first session entirely, with England at 216/3, trailing by 148 runs.

In the post-lunch session, just 16 runs later, pacer Mohammed Siraj got rid of Bairstow for 57, caught by skipper Virat Kohli at the slips, thanks to a barrage of short balls unsettling the Englishman. Nevertheless, a 54-run stand between Root and wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler followed, while Root brought up his century in the process.

At 283, Buttler was knocked over by pacer Ishant Sharma for 23. However, the pair of Root and all-rounder Moeen Ali managed to bat for the remainder of the session, as England was 314/5 at the tea break, being 50 runs behind.

In the post-tea session, the pair added 27 runs more before Ishant got rid of Moeen for 27, followed by all-rounder Sam Curran for an unfortunate duck off the very next delivery by the same man. At 357, Ollie Robinson was trapped leg-before by Siraj for just six, as the tail-enders could hardly contribute.

While Mark Wood fell for a mere five through a run-out 14 runs later, James Anderson was the final man to be dismissed by Shami, who knocked him over. Although Root stayed unbeaten, 20 runs short of his sixth Test double century, England had registered a lead of 27 runs, as stumps was declared.

For India, five bowlers were utilised. While pacer Mohammed Siraj was the most successful, leg-spinner Ravindra Jadeja was the most economical.
Brief scores: India 364 (Rohit- 83, Rahul- 129; Anderson- 5/62) trails England 391 (Root- 180*, Bairstow- 57; Siraj- 4/94) by 27 runs.

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