By Callum Dent
Ajinkya Rahane struck a stunning century to stop England in their tracks after they opted to make first use of a green pitch at Lord’s on the opening day of the second Investec Test against India.
The hosts bounced back from a disappointing morning session, in which they failed to bowl the right line and lengths, to take five wickets after lunch and reduce India to 145 for seven.
However, Rahane stood firm when his team-mates fell around him before stepping up his innings to complete a second Test ton and ensure Alastair Cook’s bowlers struggled to capitalise on a strong position.
The 26-year-old shared in a 90-run stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the highest India eighth-wicket partnership at the home of cricket, before the latter was bowled by Stuart Broad with the new ball for 36.
Rahane became James Anderson’s fourth scalp shortly before the close, which arrived with India on 290 for nine.
More to follow
Match scorecard / Live ball-by-ball commentary
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Evening session
6.30pm - CLOSE OF PLAY! Ind 290/9; Shami 14, Ishant 12 - Ishant Sharma slices a short Broad ball over the cordon for four and then fends a bouncer off to the fine-leg rope. India will be very happy with their day's work. As for England, they let a strong position slip away in the final session. All to play for tomorrow.
6.12pm - WICKET! Rahane c&b Anderson 103; Ind 277/9 - Rahane's innings is finally over, Anderson snaring a stunning return catch low down to his left.
6.09pm - CENTURY! Rahane (151b 15x4 1x6) - Rahane pushes Anderson to the cover boundary to move to his second Test ton. Fantastic innings from the 26-year-old.
6.08pm - Rahane survives another lbw appeal, this time off Broad. Mohammed Shami then blazes Broad through the mid-off region for four.
6.04pm - Rahane produces two pull shots off Anderson to move a couple of runs short of a century.
5.53pm - Rahane offers no stroke and is hit on the pads in front by Anderson, whose lbw appeal is turned down. The right-hander then flicks Anderson for four and lofts him for the first six of the day next ball.
5.50pm - WICKET! Bhuvneshwar b Broad 36; Ind 235/8 - Bhuvneshwar looked to be taking a liking to Broad with the fresh cherry, taking him for two boundaries. However, Broad responds and bowls the right-hander with a delivery that keeps a little low. That ends a stand of 90, India's highest eight-wicket partnership at the home of cricket.
5.40pm - England take the new ball. James Anderson has it in his hand.
Ajinkya Rahane is a outstanding young player ... Looks the best of all the young players technically IMO....
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) July 17, 2014
5.25pm - Bhuvneshwar guides a wide Stokes ball to the vacant third-man rope to take India past 200. Just like he did at Trent Bridge, when he made two half-centuries, the number nine is proving hard to dismiss.
5.17pm - Rahane, strong on the cut, is not afraid to hook the pace of Plunkett too. Joe Root tries to push the ball away from the rope, but succeeds in only conceding a four. That is the fifty partnership between Rahane and Bhuvneshwar. Frustrating times for England.
5.09pm - The conditions continue to assist the bowlers. Broad snakes one back into Bhuvneshwar and cuts him in half. At the other end, though, Plunkett is bowling too short from round the wicket.
4.58pm - FIFTY! Rahane (101b 7x4 0x6) - Rahane lifts Plunkett over cover to raise his fifty. Well played!
4.54pm - Rahane is approaching a fine half-century after cutting Plunkett to the point boundary. He has looked solid today.
4.49pm - Stokes' three-over spell, which were all maidens, ends when Stuart Broad returns. Ajinkya Rahane drives two fully-pitched swinging deliveries to the fielder at wide mid-off before replicating the stroke and finding the rope. Liam Plunkett returned to field after tea and his hamstring will now be tested as he is thrown the ball.
4.32pm - Ben Stokes produces a snorter of a delivery that Bhuvneshwar does well not to edge behind. The new ball is available in 16 overs. Can England wrap this innings up before then?
Since January 2013 Ajinkya Rahane (57.3) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (126) have the two highest averages for India in Tests played away from home.
— Investec Cricket (@InvestecCricket) July 17, 2014
4.09pm - WICKET! Binny lbw Anderson 9; Ind 145/7 - James Anderson has a third wicket. He pins Stuart Binny lbw and England's charge continues. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is in next. He knows how to handle a bat!
Afternoon session
3.42pm - TEA! Ind 140/6; Rahane 26, Binny 6 - A superb session for England puts them on top. A total contrast from this morning.
3.38pm - Plunkett is currently off the field with a tight hamstring. But he is set to return after the interval.
3.32pm - Stuart Binny, who salvaged a draw for India in Nottingham with a second-innings half-century on debut, lifts Moeen over the top for four. He looks positive.
3.25pm - WICKET! Jadeja lbw Moeen 3; Ind 128/6 - That's the end of Jadeja. Spin accounts for the left-hander this time as Moeen Ali traps him lbw.
3.20pm - Ravindra Jadeja struggled with the moving ball at Trent Bridge and survives a huge lbw appeal from Broad here. Replays show the ball was bouncing over the top. Good decision.
13 - Stuart Broad is the 13th player and second for England after Ian Botham to take 250 wickets and score 2,000 runs in Tests. Value.
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) July 17, 2014
3.11pm - WICKET! Dhoni c Prior b Broad 1; Ind 123/5 - Broad succeeds in snaring Dhoni. He carelessly flicks outside off stump and is taken by Prior behind the stumps, handing Broad his 250th Test scalp. England on top.
3.05pm - Broad returns to the attack and is charged with the task of removing Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The India skipper walks down the pitch and misses a swinging delivery from the paceman, who then has an lbw appeal turned down.
All of India's wickets have come from England bowling a good length @HomeOfCricket : http://t.co/wciM3yGYuL #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/UEuBwOPJBG
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 17, 2014
2.47pm - WICKET! Pujara b Stokes 28; Ind 113/4 - I spoke too soon! Stokes breaches Pujara's defences and hits top of middle stump. England will be delighted.
2.35pm - Pujara greets Liam Plunkett's return to the attack by crashing him through the covers for four. Now that the watchful number three has faced over 100 deliveries, he looks in and is playing his shots.
2.25pm - A fine off-drive from Ajinkya Rahane takes India into three figures.
2.20pm - Cheteshwar Pujara guides a full delivery from Ben Stokes, now on at the Nursery End, to the vacant third-man boundary. England are bowling in better areas.
1.58pm - WICKET! Kohli c Prior b Anderson 25; Ind 86/3 - The switch of ends works. Anderson produces a stunning away-swinging delivery that Virat Kohli pushes at and edges behind to Matt Prior. Anderson is now the leading wicket-taker in Tests at Lord's and has the most scalps for an English bowler versus India.
1.51pm - James Anderson and Stuart Broad swap ends after lunch, with the former operating at the Nursery End and the latter at the Pavilion End.
Morning Session
46 - India's batsmen left alone 46% of deliveries from England's seamers before lunch on Day One of the second #EngvInd Test. Update.
— OptaJim (@OptaJim) July 17, 2014
1pm - LUNCH! Ind 73/2; Pujara 11, Kohli 20 - Kohli looks to be making up for his failures at Trent Bridge, flicking Plunkett and driving Stokes to the boundary. England have struggled with their line and lengths this morning and would have wanted more wickets.
12.59pm - CHANCE! - Moeen Ali is introduced into the attack for the final over before the interval. Kohli plays back and feathers an outside edge behind that Prior cannot grasp. That would have been a fine ending.
12.45pm - Viral Kohli signals his positive intent early on by blazing Stokes through the covers for four.
12.38pm - WICKET! Vijay c Ballance b Plunkett 24; Ind 48/2 - After bowling a jaffa that Vijay played and missed in the previous over, Plunkett gets his man. The right-hander, looking to play into the leg side, directs a leading edge into the hands of Ballance at third slip.
12.27pm - Vijay pushes a full Plunkett delivery to the cover boundary. India are 43 for one.
12.19pm - Liam Plunkett, into the attack for Broad, produces two superb deliveries that Vijay plays and misses at. Anderson, with figures of 8-6-11-1, is replaced by Ben Stokes and he starts with a maiden. England are on the hunt for more wickets.
James Anderson bowled a spell of 5 successive maiden overs. The last England bowler to do that was Peter Martin in 1995 in Port Elizabeth
— BBC TMS (@bbctms) July 17, 2014
11.57am - Cheteshwar Pujara waits patiently for his first runs, which arrive with a back-foot push for three from the 25th ball he faces.
Somerset's Alex Barrow, fresh from deputising for the injured Craig Kieswetter, during the recent LV= County Championship victory over struggling Northamptonshire at Wantage Road, is England's 12th man today. He is on the field for Broad.
11.50am - England are struggling to make the India batsman, who are happy to leave the ball, play. Vijay edges through the vacant fourth-slip position to the rope, ending a run of five consecutive maidens from Anderson. The seamer then has a big lbw decision turned down. It looked a little high.
11.29am - Vijay takes 13 balls to get off the mark, driving Broad through the covers for four. The bowlers continue to swing the ball.
Wow that's a green wicket. #EngvInd
— Ravi Bopara (@ravibopara) July 17, 2014
11.20am - CHANCE! - Vijay pushes forward at a full Broad delivery and edges behind. However, Matt Prior cannot hold on to a sharp chance diving to his right.
11.13am - WICKET! Dhawan c Ballance b Anderson 7; Ind 11/1 - Anderson strikes in his second over, Dhawan edging a beautiful swinging delivery from the seamer to Gary Ballance in the cordon.
11.07am - James Anderson starts the match with a maiden to Murali Vijay. Shikhar Dhawan then edges Stuart Ball's first delivery just wide of third slip. Eleven runs come from the over.
Pre-Play News
Here’s a few stats of #EngvInd at Lord’s... pic.twitter.com/wzmWBXod3b
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) July 17, 2014
10.57am - India great Rahul Dravid rings the bell and the players make their way onto the field.
England XI: Alastair Cook (captain), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Matt Prior, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson.
India XI: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami.
England have won the toss and will bowl first. England's team is unchanged #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/d4pDqjZlXA
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) July 17, 2014
10.32am - TOSS - England win the toss and opt to bowl.
10.25am - Simon Kerrigan is also an option after the Lancashire spinner was added to the squad . We will have the toss and team news with you shortly.
10am - The hosts could opt to make changes to their bowling department with this match at the home of cricket arriving just four days after the stalemate at Trent Bridge. Alastair Cook’s bowlers delivered 284 overs across two innings in Nottingham.
Head Coach Peter Moores is well aware rest and recuperation is vital and, in his press conference yesterday, skipper Alastair Cook believes his troops will be fully refreshed.
Watch Alastair Cook batting in the nets at @HomeOfCricket #EngvInd http://t.co/7pky7QxtsC
— England Cricket (@ECB_cricket) July 17, 2014
9.40am - We are all set for a hot day here in the capital, with forecasters predicting temperatures rising up to 30 degrees celsius. As for the pitch, from here it looks pretty green.
9.30am - Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the second Investec Test between England and India at Lord’s.
Coach & captain - Peter Moores & Alastair Cook - take a close look at the pitch #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/HDXS6eKOkY
— Lord's Ground (@HomeOfCricket) July 17, 2014
. @StuartBroad8 , @MattPrior13 , @joeroot05 , @Liam628 & Gary Ballance arrive at Lord's #EngvInd https://t.co/5e1N4TPzSy
— Lord's Ground (@HomeOfCricket) July 17, 2014