Unlike his usual flamboyant style, Ben Stokes curbed his instincts on Thursday and played a measured knock. His 102-ball 39 was all about survival and support. Stokes has shown before that he can switch gears in an instant. With Root looking solid, this could be a morning where he looks to step up the scoring.

Joe Root finished the day on 99 off 191 balls while Ben Stokes was on 39 off 102. Track the live score and updates for IND vs ENG Day 2 from Lord's Cricket Ground, right here

LONDON (Reuters) -England won the toss and will bat first in the third test against India at Lord's on Thursday under sunny skies at the home of cricket and conditions that should favour the batsmen.

India captain Gill couldn’t help but take a dig at England for their scoring rate that was unusually low in the ‘Bazball’ era, with the hosts scoring just 70 runs in the afternoon session at under three runs an over.

Edgbaston is renowned for its ‘awesome’ atmosphere and, even as England struggled, three butchers chased an inflatable pig round the stand

There was some spin on day one for India’s spinners, but India won’t be losing sleep over Shoaib Bashir, while the hot weather and placid nature of the surface will test Jofra Archer’s fitness on his return to Test cricket, similarly Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse who got through plenty of work last week.

Joe Root and Ollie Pope batted with great caution against a disciplined India attack to lift England to 153-2 at tea on the first day of the third test at Lord's on Thursday.After losing openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley cheaply in the morning,

Play was held up in the evening session as the insects descended upon the pitch, leaving Ben Stokes particularly vexed