The batter went on to smash a half-century.
Indian wicketkeeper-batter KL Rahul dropped an easy catch of the English gloveman Jamie Smith to grant him a lifeline in the ongoing third England vs India Test at the iconic Lord’s Stadium. The incident took place within half an hour of the start of the second day’s play.
In the third ball of the 87th over, Smith got an outside edge while trying to push a short-of-a-length delivery. The 33-year-old was standing at the second slip and it seemed that he misjudged the ball’s height.
Pacer Mohammed Siraj was visibly upset after the poor drop by the opener. However, with this single, the youngster equalled South African player Quinton de Kock to score the fastest 1,000 runs in the format as a keeper.
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Previously, the Indian team dropped a total of seven catches during the series opener in Leeds. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal faced severe criticism for wasting crucial chances even after notching up 101 runs in the first innings.
This was also one of the reasons behind the first match loss of Shubman Gill and Co. after putting up a huge 835 runs combined on the scoreboard. However, they levelled the series by winning the Edgbaston Test by a huge margin of 336 runs.
Coming into this fixture, former English batter Nasser Hussain emphasised the change in the wicket’s character while assessing the dropped chance off Rahul.
“We discussed the pitch getting quicker on day 2 with the new ball. The ball carried to KL Rahul quicker and at a decent height,” said former England batter while commentating on the match.
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England captain Ben Stokes continued his streak of winning tosses, but this time the call changed. After deciding to bat first, the side lost two quick wickets to young Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. However, a strong 109-run partnership between Joe Root and Ollie Pope saw them finish the day on 251/4.
However, Root converted his overnight score of 99 to notch up his 37th ton in the format. But he could not make it a big one after India’s prime pacer Jasprit Bumrah uproots his middle-stump, following the dismissal of Stokes in his previous over. He also cleaned up pacer Chris Woakes in the very next delivery to reduce the side to 271/7. At the time of writing, England are at 334/7 with Smith and Brydon Carse at the crease.
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