Lord's Test: Joe Root's unbeaten 99 helps England reach 251/4 at Stumps on Day 1

Joe Root stitched together a dogged unbeaten 99 as England shed their usual aggressive ways, resorting to classical long format batting amid sustained pressure from the Indian bowlers to reach 251 for four on day one of the Lord’s Test on Thursday.

At stumps, Root was one run shy of his 37th Test hundred having negated 191 balls, and was batting alongside Ben Stokes (39 batting off 102).

They have put on 79 for the unfinished fifth wicket so far.

Opting to bat in a home game only for the second time in the Bazball era, England chose to bat with plenty of patience on a slow surface than being on the offensive — their usual mode of operation under Stokes.

The surface wore a greenish look on the eve of the game but looked flat before the toss as a sea of fans flocked to the iconic venue.

With the series locked at 1-1, the pitch had been a big talking point heading into the third Test. India, having six bowling options, did not offer too many freebies though Edgbaston hero Akash Deep struggled to find his rhythm in his debut game here.

After a wicketless afternoon session, Ravindra Jadeja had Ollie Pope (44 off 104) caught behind first ball after tea with a ball that turned away from length. Five overs later, Jasprit Bumrah weaved his magic as he got one to nip back to pierce Harry Brook’s defense.

In the afternoon session, Rishabh Pant had an injury scare as an angled down leg ball from Bumrah crashed into his left fingertips, forcing him to leave the field.

Dhruv Jurel substituted in his absence and did a fine job. Pant’s injury, however, is not serious and he is expected to resume wicketkeeping duties on Friday.

India kept England’s run rate in check but Root and Pope chugged along to take the hosts to 153 for two at tea.

England, known for their ultra-aggressive approach, had a rather subdued session by their standards with Root and Pope going back to classical Test match batting approach.

They were happy to leave balls outside the off-stump to ensure that no damage was done. A total of 70 runs were scored from 24 overs in the middle session.

Root brought up his fifty with a boundary in the fine-leg region.

In the morning, India all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy struck twice in an eventful over to leave England at 83 for two at lunch.

On expected lines, Prasidh Krishna made way for Bumrah as the sole change in the Indian playing eleven.

The trio of Bumrah, Akash Deep and Mohamed Siraj did ask a few questions but England opening duo of Ben Duckett (23 off 40) and Zak Crawley (18 off 43) survived the first hour of play, reaching 39 for no loss in 13 overs.

Due to the unique slope, the Indian bowlers understandably took some time to get used to the up and down nature of the ground while running in.

Bumrah bowled from both Pavillion End and Nursery end while Akash Deep, who took a match haul of 10 at Edgbaston, bowled with the new ball from Nursery end.

Captain Shubman Gill could have brought back Akash Deep after the first hour, instead he gave the ball to Reddy from Nursery End and he did not disappoint.

The first breakthrough was a rather lucky one with Duckett gloving a short ball on the leg side to the wicket-keeper.

The following ball Pope could have been dismissed the very next ball but Gill could not latch on to a tough chance at gully.

The last ball of the over produced the wicket of Crawley. It was a beauty that seamed away from length, inducing an outside edge on the way to the keeper.

Though the crowd capacity at hallowed ground is little over 30,000, it seemed the whole of London was flocking to the venue with a sea of fans emerging from the St. John’s Wood tube station close by.

Test cricket may be struggling for regular attendance in some nations but a sell out crowd in this series so far has reaffirmed that the traditional format continues to thrive in this country.

Fans have also flown in from India for the marquee fixture with a family from Bengaluru shelling out as much as 1200 pounds for three tickets bought from touts outside the ground.