
KL Rahul, with an unbeaten century (127*), and Rohit Sharma, with a gritty 83, took good care of the Indian innings as the visitors posted a solid 276/3 against England on the opening day of the Lord's Test on Thursday.
💯 FOR KL RAHUL!
— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) August 12, 2021
He gets his name up on the Lord's Honours Boards 🔥
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The opening pair started off slowly and watchfully against the likes of James Anderson, Ollie Robinson and Sam Curran. The first session saw just 46 runs scored without any wicket, which was the lowest seen in a Lord's Test match.
After lunch, the duo started flourishing. En route to their 126-run partnership, Rohit was the more dominant one. His 83 was studded with 11 boundaries and a maximum.
They call him HITMAN for this very reason 🔥
— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) August 12, 2021
Rohit smashes the first SIX of the match right after his 50!🙌🏽
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Just when it looked like Rohit was on his way to get his first overseas Test century, one of Anderson's seam-up deliveries, that angled in to him, castled the Indian batter.
An Anderson special was needed to get rid of Rohit today! ☝🏽
— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) August 12, 2021
He departs for a well-made 83 off 145 👏🏽
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The 126-run partnership was India's third century opening partnership since 1952 at the Lord's. Vinoo Mankad and Pankaj Roy had achieved a 106-run opening partnership earlier. Another pair to stitch a hundred-run stand was that of Farokh Engineer and Sunil Gavaskar back in 1974.
After Rohit's dismissal, Rahul played the role of the anchor as he started hitting the outside-off deliveries to perfection. He had 12 boundaries and a six to his name.
KL Rahul brings up his 2nd FIFTY in 3 innings 🔥
— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) August 12, 2021
Can he convert this to a big one?
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Even though Cheteshwar Pujara fell early (9), captain Virat Kohli looked comfortable in the middle with a 42. It was Robinson who removed him a while before the end of day's proceedings.
ANDERSON GETS ANOTHER ONE! 🔥
— Sony Sports (@SonySportsIndia) August 12, 2021
Pujara's dry run continues as he departs for 9 ☝🏽
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The match had a delayed start due to rain and India were put in to bat first after they lost the toss. There was further interruption due to showers after the start but the Indians made good use of the rest of the play time to get a grip over the match.