Joe Root (89 not out) and Jonny Bairstow (51 not out) hardly put a foot wrong on the morning of Day 3 in the second Test at Lord's as England were 216/3 at lunch on Saturday, trailing by 148 runs.
Resuming on 119/3, England added 97 to their score without losing a wicket. Captain Root scored his 51st half-century off 82 balls with his seventh boundary. He was in control of his game, taking singles and steering the ball between third man and backward point.
Bairstow, on the other hand, raced to his 28th half-century in Test cricket featuring some exquisite drives. It was also his first fifty in 20 innings since the second Ashes Test at Lord's in August 2019.
Indian bowlers toiled hard but couldn't get much out of the conditions due to lack of consistent line and length.
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Jasprit Bumrah had Bairstow in trouble on a couple of occasions, but the right-hander marched on to stitch a solid 108-run partnership with Root.
With seven overs still left for the second new ball, India will be hoping to make inroads in England's batting order.
Brief scores: India 364 in 126.1 overs vs England 216/3 in 73 overs (Joe Root 89 off 171, Jonny Bairstow 51 off 91; Mohammad Siraj 2/49, Mohammad Shami 1/60).
