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The injury-prone England fast bowler is a sight when in full flow and he breathed fire from the word go. He squared up the Indian opener with a ripper that seamed away and Harry Brook did the rest at second slip. Nair once again got a start but could not convert it into something meaningful with Joe Root taking a spectacular left-handed catch inches off the ground at first slip.

Gill’s fall was a result of a well thought out plan. Considering the Indian captain had been outside his crease in the previous two games, England had the wicket-keeper backing up to him against the medium pace of Chris Woakes.

Pushed back into the crease, Gill got a faint edge off a ball that straightened a shade, marking a rare failure on the tour. However, he managed to cross the 600-run mark in the series.Batting alongside Rahul, Rishabh Pant played some attacking strokes to keep the scoreboard ticking. Pant had not come out to field after being hit on his finger on day one. As often has been the case in the series, Rahul hardly put a foot wrong and from time to time, regaled the crowd with his impeccable cover drives.

Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer produced edge-of-the-seat spells before KL Rahul’s classy innings put India very much in sight of England’s 387 on day two of the Lord’s Test here on Friday.

Bumrah earned his name on the honours board with menacing morning spell that resulted in a five-wicket haul, allowing India to bowl out England for 387 in the second session after Joe Root's 37th hundred.

At stumps, India were for 145 for three, having lost the in-form skipper Shubman Gill (16 off 44 ), Yashasvi Jaiswal (13 off eight) and Karun Nair (40 off 62), who looked good for his first half-century in three games. A sellout crowd got to witness special spells of fast bowling from Bumrah and Archer, who is playing in his first Test since February 2021. First it was Bumrah before Archer made a roaring return to the traditional format with the wicket of Jaiswal in his very first over, getting the attention of every single soul at the ground.

In the second session, Bumrah (5 for 74) eclipsed Kapil Dev's record of 12 five-wicket hauls on foreign soil. Bumrah now has 15 five-wicket hauls in Test cricket and he has achieved the milestone in back-to-back Tests that he has played, including the one at Leeds. The morning session well and truly belonged to the peerless Bumrah, who was rested during the Edgbaston Test as a part of the workload management program.

While Root (104 off 199 balls) got the boundary off the very first delivery to score his eighth hundred -- most by any batter at the Lord's -- it was Bumrah's turn to ensure his name in the esteemed 'Honours Board' with a three-wicket burst that reduced England to 271 for seven at one stage.

Skipper Ben Stokes (44), Root and Chris Woakes (0) were gone in quick succession before in-form Jamie Smith (51 off 56 balls) and Carse (56 off 83 balls) added 84 for the eighth wicket stand to take the hosts past the 350-run mark. Smith was given a lifeline when Rahul dropped the wicket-keeper batter off Mohammed Siraj. Stokes was the first batter to be dismissed on the day.

One ball after he square cut Bumrah for a four, Stokes got a beauty from the Indian pace spearhead that seamed back in from round the wicket to hit the top of off-stump. There was nothing Stokes could do apart from shaking his head.Root got out soon after reaching a record eighth Test hundred at Lord’s off the first delivery of the day. Bumrah drew Root forward but the ball came back to take the inside edge before uprooting the middle-stump. It was the 11th time that Bumrah had got the better of England’s best batter in Tests.

It was surprising that Shubman Gill wanted a ball change despite that second new Dukes ball being only around 10 overs old. The umpires accepted his request but the Indians were not happy with the replacement ball leading to an animated conversation between Gill and the umpires as England reached 307 for seven in the opening hour.Soon after, the ball was changed for the second time in the session, adding to the debate over the balls used in England. To their credit, Smith and Carse batted confidently against the Indian pacers with their ability to drive the ball through the covers standing out.

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