India vs England 3rd Test, Day 1: Even Gill's "boring test match" taunt could not bring out the BazBall

At just 3.02 runs per over, an unlikely England under captain Ben Stokes and coach Brandon McCullum were seen on Day 1 of India vs England 3rd Test at Lord's. Even Shubman Gill's taunting "boring Test cricket" comment could not bring the BazBall of the England cricket team.

England finished Day 1 with 251/4 as Joe Root remained on 99 along with a struggling yet effective Ben Stokes on 39 from 102 balls at the other end. 

Indian bowlers did pretty well to restrict English batters and bowled with discipline, except for Akash Deep, who went for 4.41 runs per over on Day 1.

Key Moments and Highlights of Day 1 of India vs England 3rd Test

After the defeat at Edgbaston, England wanted a pitch that had "something in it." However, it did not look like that on Day 1. The pitch looked dry and slow, which might favour India as every day progresses. 

Ben Stokes won the toss and decided to bat first, which is very unlikely of them as they always want to chase scores in the fourth innings. But, with the dry and slow pitch in action, it might be good to bat in the third inning, rather than batting in the last inning. 

Indian opening bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep did well, and it did not look like Akash Deep, who was coming from a historical 10-wicket haul, had any issues with the slope of Lord's. Oh, did I forget to mention that India had one change from Edgbaston - Jasprit Bumrah in place of Prasidh Krishna. 

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Nitish Kumar Reddy provided the early wickets for India

Despite a good start and a long spell from Bumrah, India had to wait till Nitish Kumar Reddy came into the bowling and struck twice in his first over to remove both the English openers. Ben Duckett (23) would consider himself unlucky to be caught down the leg side, while Zack Crawley (18) got a "spitting cobra" delivery from Reddy. 

Ollie Pope would have been out first ball if Shubman Gill had caught a tough chance in the gully. But, from then on, the signals were in. The edges were not reaching the slips, and Gill once had to come so close that he wore a helmet. 

The first session ended with England being on 83/2 after 25 overs.

Nitish Kumar Reddy with a double wicket over for India! pic.twitter.com/3bMnMgqRHd

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) July 10, 2025

England won the second session

Though Pope struggled to get going, on the other end, Joe Root was Joe Root - buying runs ball by ball, playing the way he does. Gill tried to break the partnership between Pope and Root with Bumrah in action, but that did not happen.

Meanwhile, India suffered a setback as Rishabh Pant got injured while grabbing a ball from Bumrah and had to be replaced by substitute keeper Dhruv Jurel. 

The second session saw 70 runs without losing any wickets. 

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Bumrah and Jadeja provided breakthroughs for India

For India, the breakthrough finally came in the first over of the third season as Ravindra Jadeja produced an outside of Pope (44) and Jurel caught it beautifully to get England's third. Pope and Root had a 109-run partnership, which balanced the first session of the day.

Soon, Bumrah was called into action, and he rattled the stumps of Harry Brook, and everyone thought that Gill and company would have the doors open for a collapse. 

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐦𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 \|/

Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up Harry Brook's stumps for England's fourth wicket of the first inning. #JaspritBumrah #HarryBrook #ENGvsIND pic.twitter.com/PnV9dkswrv

— Sportz Point (@sportz_point) July 10, 2025

Stokes plays through pain; Root closer to another ton

However, captain Ben Stokes, who has not scored a test century in the last two years, played an uncharacteristic inning to build an unbeaten 79-run partnership with Root. 

Nitish Kumar Reddy nearly had Stokes out, but the DRS showed that India had to be satisfied with the Umpire's call, which was not out. Root meantime looked flawless against pace and spin.

In the final hour of the day, Stokes struggled with a groin injury and could not run, which stopped the flow of the run as well. With Joe Root on 99, and looking for his 37th test ton and 8th at Lord's, we are set for a big day tomorrow. 

Day 1 score summary