England on top in second Test at Lord's after late flurry of wickets on day four
Cheteshwar Pujara (45) and Ajinkya Rahane (61) share in century stand for the fourth wicket before Mark Wood (3-40) bounces out the former and Moeen Ali (2-52) strikes twice late in the day; India 181-6, leading by 154 at stumps
Monday 16 August 2021 05:59, UK
England overcame some obdurate Indian resistance to have the visitors six down - leading by 154 - by stumps on day four of the second Test at Lord's.
England, with a 27-run advantage overnight, were brilliant in the morning session, picking up the wickets of openers KL Rahul (5) and Rohit Sharma (21) before India had earned a lead of their own, while Sam Curran (1-30) claimed key man Virat Kohli (20) just before lunch.
Cheteshwar Pujara (45) and Ajinkya Rahane (61) dug in - as evidenced by a wicketless afternoon session in which the pair reaped just 49 runs - and they continued to inch India towards a safe position in the Test as their partnership ticked up to a ton.
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But, just as the pitch appeared to be dying out, Mark Wood (3-40) produced a snorter of a delivery, finding sharp bounce to take the glove of Pujara through to Joe Root at second slip, and then Moeen Ali (2-52) did for Rahane and Ravi Jadeja (3) in quick succession.
Worrying for England is that Wood left the field for the final hour, seemingly with a shoulder problem after a diving effort in the field, though he did try to return late on before bad light ended play early - India closing on 181-6, the dangerous Rishabh Pant 14 not out.
Wood was the catalyst for England in the morning; with little movement on offer in the opening five overs, Root brought on the fast bowler for Ollie Robinson and he rewarded his skipper with the opening wicket, Rahul nicking a 93mph delivery behind to Jos Buttler.
Rohit took him on; with Wood bowling short, the Indian opener pulled him away for six over deep backward-square. Wood came back with another banged in halfway down, Rohit this time ducking out of the way at the very last second, but he couldn't resist the next one as just two balls he picked out Moeen in the deep when recklessly pulling once more.
Facing an England attack with their tails up, Pujara took all of 35 balls to get off the mark, while Kohli - with the exception of a couple of nicely-timed cover drives - looked far from his best.
And it was Curran who took the key wicket of the Indian captain - his first of the series - as he moved from round the wicket to over to the right-hander and defeated him with the angle across, finding the edge through to Buttler.
England's momentum was quelled, however, first by the lunch break and then by some stubborn resistance from Pujara and Rahane in the afternoon - ironic cheers from the crowd greeting the former as he inched his score into double figures, then to 100 balls and when he finally hit his first boundary.
The pair continued to frustrate the home side into the evening session, with Rahane - who was dropped on 31 by Jonny Bairstow at point - notching a 24th Test fifty as India's lead stretched beyond 100.
The pitch too was seemingly making England's job harder, showing no signs of the variable bounce that was on offer earlier in the day, that is until Wood, from nowhere, got one to veer up sharply at Pujara and take his glove.
With an end opened up, Moeen then prized out another couple of batsmen; Rahane's resistance was ended as he feathered an edge behind and Jadeja was bowled by a beauty that turned past his outside edge to hit the top of off.
England were denied the services of Wood late on and will be sweating on his fitness overnight, while they were also prevented from taking the second new ball as the light faded. After a couple of overs of pure spin, an early close of play was called.
Watch the fifth and final day of the second Test between England and India at Lord's from 10.15am, Monday on Sky Sports The Hundred.
