KL Rahul continued his fine form with a second century of the series, helping India match England’s first-innings total on day three of the third Test at Lord’s.
Rahul’s composed 101, combined with fifties from Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja, guided India to 387 all out, with nothing to separate the teams after one innings.
England faced just one over before stumps, ending the day with a slender two-run lead and all 10 wickets still intact.
Rahul stitched together an important 141-run partnership with Pant (74) to continue India’s slow build, though a moment of over-eagerness from Pant sullied the visitors’ momentum.
Keen to help Rahul to his century before lunch, Pant set off for a risky single, only to be found short of his ground and run out, courtesy of a brilliant direct hit from home captain Ben Stokes.
After grinding through the morning session, Rahul fell to a Harry Brook catch immediately after reaching his hundred, leaving India in a spot of bother.
Jadeja (72) put up a fight with the lower order, though some fine bowling from England’s seamers saw any hopes of a first-innings lead for the tourists dashed.
Chris Woakes (3-27) had Jadeja caught down the leg side, exposing the tail, and Jofra Archer (2-52) wrapped things up by removing Washington Sundar for 30.
Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett comfortably navigated the final over of the day from Jasprit Bumrah, with England set to resume day four narrowly in front.
Data debrief: Rahul rains hundreds
Rahul’s century marked India’s eighth of the tour — a record for an India team in an away Test series.
It was also his second century at Lord’s and fourth overall in England, making him the second-most prolific visiting opener in the country since 2000, only behind South Africa’s Graeme Smith, who scored five tons on English soil.
Rahul is just the fourth overseas opener to register two Test centuries at Lord’s, and only the second Indian to do so, after Dilip Vengsarkar.
