On Day 4 of Lord’s test, India led by Virat Kohli will look to get England out early and put a spirited batting performance afterwards to draw the match. After conceding a lead of 250-runs it will be difficult for Virat Kohli and co to stage a comeback into the match given their one of the worst batting performance (107 all out in 1st innings) in recent past. The result of the match will also depend on the weather with forecast of rain in London today. On Day 3, Jonny Bairstow and Chris Woakes frustrated the Indian bowling attack in the second session to put England in total control of the second Test at Lord's. Having lost four wickets in the first session, the hosts parted with only one post lunch, scoring 141 runs in the process that completely shifted the momentum.
In pics: Lord's weather at 9 am today
The scene @HomeOfCricket at 9am.
Not raining at the moment, although we’ll be very lucky to stay dry all day!
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) August 12, 2018
On air 10am for our highlights half hour @5liveSport #bbccricket #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/1Ysr5S4cTk
Lord’s Weather forecast
The weather forecast for Lord’s is not good as cloudy skies are expected to welcome the teams in the morning with chances of rain in the afternoon. Taking advantage of the situation England will look to score maximum runs in the first session and to bowl in overcast conditions later on as they have swing bowlers such as James Anderson and Chris Woakes who can use the conditions to England’s advantage.
Dropping Umesh Yadav backfired
In conditions which were ripe for seamers, India had two frontline spinners, two frontline pacers and Hardik Pandya. And as they bowled in the first innings, the decision to not have another pacer in the ranks hurt them. India's opening bowlers started off poor, but soon came into their own. The conditions weren't as supportive as England enjoyed the previous day, but they still found enough to trouble Jennings and Cook. By the time the pair was out, to Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma respectively in successive overs, India's main pacers were already towards the end of their spells. The need for a third frontline seamer was never more stark. India had decided to bring in Kuldeep for Umesh Yadav for 2nd Test at Lord's, and despite seeing the conditions on the first day, which was washed out before the toss had even taken place, they decided to play with the left-arm wrist spinner. Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane defended team management’s decision of playing Kuldeep post Day 2 press conference and said “The answer to your question will be, I feel, when Kuldeep Yadav takes four of five wickets tomorrow.”
On the other hand, England picked Chris Woakes ahead of Moeen Ali as they had Adil Rashid in the playing 11 but didn’t used him first innings as India were bundled out for 107 runs.
Kohli changed the team for 37th time in a row
For the 37th time in a row, Kohli picked the team with some changes from the previous match. He picked Cheteshwar Pujara picked in place of Shikhar Dhawan and also included Kuldeep Yadav ahead of Umesh Yadav. With the pitch assisting the quick bowlers and likely to do on Saturday as well, it will be interesting how much the quicks can get out of this pitch and whether or not the inclusion of Kuldeep will have a big bearing on the game or not.
Here are the playing 11 of both the sides:
England playing 11: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root, Oliver Pope, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Stuart Board, James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid
India Playing 11: Murali Vijay, K L Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami
Lord's is notorious for low Test scores: India are in danger of going 0-2 down in the five-Test series against England unless the elements, which made their life miserable after being asked to bat first, conspire to save them or even help them to turn the tables on the hosts. After the first day's wash-out, conditions were difficult for batting even though the pitch reports suggested that it was dry and good for a knock. At least one former captain thought Virat Kohli losing the toss was a blessing in disguise though the Indian captain also wanted to bowl. The conditions were certainly not batting-friendly as the ball did turn quite a bit and England had the ammo to attack relentlessly. It is not easy to deal with James Anderson in any conditions and on this day he was making the ball talk. He craftily planned his five dismissals. The social media was not kind to the Indians and some got too personal, as they would in such circumstances. Someone shared a picture shot of the Lord's menu card and the Twitterati had their fill matching it with the scorecard! Read full article here
India’s record at Lord’s cricket ground in London:
India have played 17 matches at Lord’s, of they have lost 11 and won only two. The most recent win for India came in 2014, when Ishant Sharma took 7 wickets to win the match under M S Dhoni’s captaincy. India could take inspiration from that game in this match.
Total: 17
England: 11
India: 2
Drawn: 4
When and where to watch England vs India, 2nd Test Day 4
Match Date: 9 August - 13 August 2018
Match Timing: 3:30 pm (IST), 10:00 am (GMT), 11:00 am (Local time)
Match Venue: Lord’s cricket ground, London, England
India vs England 2nd Test match live streaming details
India vs England 2nd Test match will be broadcast on Sony Six, Sony Six HD in English Commentary. India vs England second Test match will be available for live streaming on Sony Liv app. Tatasky subscribers can also live stream India vs England 2nd Test match on Tatasky mobile app.