London, August 12

India batsman KL Rahul cracked a superb unbeaten century and Rohit Sharma made 83 as the visitors reached a strong position at 276/3 after the opening day of a rain-hit second Test against England at Lord’s on Thursday.

Rahul dropped anchor early in his innings as Rohit led the charge before switching gears to bring up his sixth Test century following an impressive 84 in the first innings of the drawn first Test of the five-match series. Rahul’s knock of 127 not out included 12 fours and a six.

England seamer James Anderson dismissed Rohit and Cheteshwar Pujara to give the hosts hope of clawing their way back but India skipper Virat Kohli (42) stitched together a 117-run partnership with Rahul before departing.

Ajinkya Rahane was unbeaten on one at the close.

Earlier, England’s pace bowlers got plenty of movement in overcast conditions after the start of play was delayed by 30 minutes due to rain, but they had little reward thereafter as captain Joe Root was left to rue his decision to bowl.

Rohit looked set for a century before being bowled by Anderson, but his 126-run stand with Rahul laid the foundation for their side. India’s openers played steadily through a challenging early phase and looked increasingly comfortable at the crease when a spell of rain stopped play and brought an early end to the opening session. — Reuters