ENG vs IND 2025: [Watch] Ravindra Jadeja breaks worrying partnership between Pope, Root with first ball of third session on Day 1 in Lord’s Test

Joe Root and Ollie Pope’s resolute third-wicket partnership on Day 1 of the third Test between India and England at the Lord’s Cricket Ground ended on the first ball of the second session.

The duo joined forces in the first session after England openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley were dismissed by Nitish Kumar Reddy in the 14th over of the day. Root and Pope batted with a lot of grit and determination and took England safely through to the Lunch break.

In the second session, the pitch eased out considerably and the Indian bowlers were made to toil hard by the right-handed batters. Root got to his half-century by hitting a boundary off Reddy in the 46th over. Shubman introduced Ravindra Jadeja into the attack in the 48th over, minutes before the Tea break. The veteran all-rounder got the fifth ball of the over to spin sharply.

England only scored 70 runs in the 24 overs bowled in the second session, but didn’t give India a wicket. Pope and Root would have envisioned frustrating the Indian bowlers further in the final session and keeping the scoreboard ticking. However, Jadeja had other ideas.

The 36-year-old got the first delivery of the post-Tea session to grip as it spun past Pope’s reluctant drive and took a healthy outside edge through to substitute wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, who took a brilliant catch. Pope’s fighting knock of 44 runs off 104 balls came to a tame end, and he perfunctorily walked off the field. India, however, were cock-a-whoop as the partnership was starting to get under their nerves.

Take a look at Pope’s dismissal here:

Ben Stokes won the toss earlier in the day and opted to bat first. Jofra Archer returned to England’s playing XI in Tests for the first time since February 2021. Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah replaced Prasidh Krishna in the Indian lineup.

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