PHOTOS: Root holds firm after Siraj rocks England

Images from Day 2 of the second Test between England and India, at Lord's, on Friday.

• SCORECARD

India evened things up with a massive breakthrough in added time after skipper Joe Root batted gamely to keep England in the hunt in the second Test, at Lord’s, on Friday.

At stumps, after an engrossing second day's play, England, having bowled India out for 364 in the first innings, were 119 for 3 from 45 overs.

Root was unbeaten on 48, with Jonny Bairstow on 6.

The canny Mohammed Shami got the breakthrough when he had Rory Burns (49) trapped in front of the wicket with a delivery that jagged in after landing.

India looked threatening after Siraj's two-wicket burst off successive deliveries before Burns and Joe Root nearly navigated through a tricky final session with a partnership of 85 runs.

With Virat Kohli deciding to continue with Siraj after the tea break, instead of handing the red cherry to the more experienced Shami or Jasprit Bumrah, the very impressive pacer lived up to his captain's expectations with twin strikes off his first two deliveries.

First, he had Dominic Sibley playing a loose shot and having him caught at short midwicket by K L Rahul; it was a replay of his dismissal at Nottingham.

Then, the pacer crashed through the defence of comeback man Haseeb Hameed, giving him a golden duck on his return. That was followed by Siraj giving the batsman a silent send-off.

However, Root and Burns did the repair work admirably as they frustrated the visiting team’s bowlers with their mix of caution and aggression.

On the day, Root also went past Graham Gooch to become England's second highest scorer in Test cricket, with only Alastair Cook now ahead of him.

Burns smashed Siraj for three boundaries in an over, before scoring fours against Ishant Sharma and Bumrah.

Root too found the fence occasionally after the evergreen James Anderson exhibited complete mastery over his craft on way to a 31st five-wicket haul to wrap up India's first innings much earlier than expected.

Morning session:

Earlier, India lost four wickets in the first session as England gained some comfort by reducing India to 346 for 7 at lunch, with Jadeja unbeaten on 31 and Ishant Sharma yet to open his account.

The wickets that fell on the opening session included overnight centurion K L Rahul (129), Rishabh Pant (37), Ajinkya Rahane (1) and Mohammed Shami (0).

Just when India seemed to rally after the early blows -- when they lost Rahul and Rahane in a space of five deliveries -- Pant edged a quick Mark Wood delivery to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler.

Resuming at 276 for 3, Rahul could add only two runs to his overnight score before walking back to the dressing room amid a big applause. Having played a fine knock, Rahul's dismissal was soft, as he drove straight to the cover fielder off the day's second delivery.

Soon enough, Rahane was sent back by old warhorse James Anderson, who got one to swing away and the batsman nicked it behind. Skipper Joe Root did the rest at first slip.

One of India's better batsmen overseas, Rahane hasn't fired since his magnificent hundred at the MCG, and he needs a big score sooner than later to get his confidence back, having averaged under 30 in 22 Test innings since 2020.

Making light of his team losing two early wickets, Pant had no trouble facing the English bowlers and got his runs off 58 balls before falling to Wood. The dashing left-hander struck five fours during his stay in the middle.

Shami lasted just two balls, as Moeen Ali had him caught by Rory Burns to leave India at 336 for 7.

The hallowed Lord's turned red to mark the ‘Red For Ruth Day’ to raise awareness and funds for the Ruth Strauss Foundation, named after former England skipper Andrew Strauss's late wife, who died of non-smoking lung cancer at the age of 46.

Post-Lunch session:

After lunch, the evergreen James Anderson exhibited complete mastery over his craft on the way to a 31st five-wicket haul as India’s first innings ended at 364.

Thanks to Anderson's exploits of 5 for 62, and a fine supporting act by Mark Wood (2 for 91), England got an opportunity to bat in the second session and reached tea at 23 for no loss.

Openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley were unbeaten on 11 runs each at the break.

This is the 39-year-old Anderson's seventh five-for at the hallowed Lord's, four of them coming against India.

It was cloudy but there was no rain around, and the conditions looked better for batting than it was at Trent Bridge in the series opener last week.

Resuming at 276 for 3, with overnight centurion KL Rahul (129) and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane (1) at the crease, India ended up losing seven wickets for 88 runs.

The flamboyant Rishabh Pant (37) and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (40), with their enterprise, threatened to take the game away from the hosts before Anderson and Wood had other ideas. The latter got rid of the dangerous left-handed duo while his senior teammate worked his magic at the other end.

Jadeja played another handy knock with the bat to help India go past the 350-run mark. However, they will rue not going past 400, after being well placed on 267 for 2 at one stage.

It was appropriate that Anderson led the England team off the ground, holding the ball aloft as he does often.