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The second day of Lord's Test produced quite a lot of exciting action for the fans across the globe. India got off to a forgettable start on Friday as they lost the wickets of KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane in quick succession. This is when Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant joined hands and stitched a crucial partnership, preventing a major collapse for the visitors.
While Pant entertained everyone with his important 37-run cameo, the onus was on Jadeja once again to add some runs while batting with the tail. Mohammed Shami did not help India's cause after he was dismissed on the second delivery that he faced. However, Ishant Sharma once again proved his worth with the bat as he provided some much-needed support to Jadeja.
Ishant Sharma vs Mark Wood - An exciting battle at Lord's
As Ishant started to look comfortable at the crease, Joe Root introduced Mark Wood into the attack to fire in some lethal bouncers. The pacer was bang on with the very first delivery as he caught Ishant off guard with the short-pitch ball. It got a slight nick off the bat and went towards the left of Jos Buttler, who came up with a valiant diving effort but failed to hold on to the catch.
On the very next delivery, there was more drama as Ishant tried to sneak in a single to get Jadeja back on strike. As the all-rounder sent him back, India's No. 9 found himself stuck in the middle of the pitch. Haseeb Hameed threw the ball at the striker's end with Ishant nowhere in the picture. Fortunately for him, the ball missed the stumps as he made his way back to the crease after that.
Ishant wins the battle with a boundary
Mark Wood was certainly on top of Ishant with four deliveries still remaining in the over. As the Indian tailender survived the next ball, he came up with a wild shot on the 4th delivery as the ball sailed towards the third-man region for a boundary, adding salt to England's wounds.
Ishant's valiant stay at the crease (8 runs off 29 deliveries) finally came to an end after he was adjudged LBW off the bowling of James Anderson. However, his partnership with Jadeja ensured that India put up a competitive total of 364 in the first innings at the home of cricket.
