Not the day Team India would have imagined. After exceptional first innings, India's second innings saw them lose three wickets - Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, and Virat Kohli - before lunch. Now, they have been reduced to six wickets and have only managed to score 181 taking a 154 run lead.
Day 4 at Lord's saw England start with a bang as KL Rahul (5) nicked one and the Hitman (21) pulled another one to a deep fielder. Mark Wood accounted for both the openers and the host had a huge opening.
The Indian skipper (20) looked good before he went fishing outside off. It was Sam Curran who was seen running and enjoying this wicket of his. India then soon had two out of form and under pressure batsmen at the crease.
However, Cheteshwar Pujara (45) and Ajinkya Rahane (61) stood up when it mattered. They added 100 runs in almost 50 overs. But, Wood came back again and sprung up a surprise and a short ball to Pujara.
It's Stumps on Day of the 2nd #ENGvIND Test at Lord's!#TeamIndia move to 181/6 & lead England by 154 runs.
for @ajinkyarahane88 for @cheteshwar1 @RishabhPant17 (14*) & @ImIshant (4*) will resume the proceedings on Day 5.
Scorecard https://t.co/KGM2YELLde pic.twitter.com/ulY0tJclSl
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 15, 2021
Soon after his departure, Rahane followed and India went from a marathon of 200+ balls to two quick batsmen Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja.
But the all-rounder did not last long and was sent back by spinner Moeen Ali for just 3. Pant and Ishant Sharma continued the play before Kohli was seen signaling them to stop play due to bad light.
He was soon joined in by Rohit and they both did not want the batters to continue. Root had wanted to take the second new ball, but they had to leave the crease
England have been fantastic on three consecutive days courtesy of Joe Root's 180 not out. India would now deeply rely on Pant's heroics to come good tomorrow. England, on the other hand, would look to quickly wrap up the game on Day 5.