Lord's Test hangs in balance after close day two 

Joe Root began the day with a streaky four, that helped him to his 37th Test hundred, taking him past Steve Smith and Rahul Dravid in the process. With this ton, Root sits at the fifth position in the all-time list. Sachin Tendulkar (51 Test hundreds), Jacques Kallis (45), Ricky Ponting (41), and Kumar Sangakkara (38) are the only ones ahead of him.

But it was India pacer Jasprit Bumrah who had the maximum impact in the first hour of play, getting rid off Root (104), Ben Stokes (44) and Chris Woakes (0) with the second new ball.

Resilient fifties from Jamie Smith (51) and Brydon Carse (56) helped the hosts close in on the 400-mark, but regular strikes from the Indian pacers meant that they were bowled out for 387.

Bumrah picked yet another five-wicket haul to follow up his first innings effort in Leeds. This was the pacer’s 15th five-wicket haul in the format.

Jofra Archer playing his first Test since February 2021, made an immediate impact picking up Yashasvi Jaiswal in his first over.

KL Rahul and Karun Nair rebuilt for India, but Ben Stokes struck his magic when India were on 74 to send back Nair. The batter edged one in between the wicketkeeper and the first slip, where Joe Root dived to his left to take a one-handed stunner. This was Root’s 211th catch, making him the player with most catches in Tests.

India skipper Shubman Gill, whose heroic efforts lit up the last Test, settled in but fell eventually for just 16 to Chris Woakes. However, Rishabh Pant joined the sturdy KL Rahul, and the duo saw India through to the stumps, with the score at 145/3.

The game hangs in balance with India trailing England by 242 runs with seven wickets in hand.