England survived the return of Jasprit Bumrah only to lose both openers in a single over from Nitish Kumar Reddy on the first morning of the third Rothesay Test at Lord’s.
Captain Ben Stokes switched up his habit of bowling first following last week’s heavy defeat at Edgbaston, opting to bat after winning the toss.
But, despite fending off Bumrah in the morning session, the world’s number one bowler going wicketless across eight overs, they took lunch on 83 for two as Reddy removed Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley.
We've reached lunch at Lord's 🥪
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 10, 2025
With Ollie Pope (12*) and Joe Root (24*) at the crease.
🏴 8️⃣3️⃣-2️⃣
England started promisingly, negotiating the first hour safely in a stand of 43.
Duckett nicked his first ball from Bumrah just short of the wicketkeeper and was fortunate to escape a couple of wild drives against him early on. One skimmed past his outside edge and the next burrowed through a yawning gap between bat and pad without clipping the stumps.
Crawley was more cautious initially but did not stay quiet for long, bursting into life with four boundaries in the space of eight deliveries as he used his feet upset Akash Deep’s length.
Navigating the new ball was a victory for England, but their trouble was about to begin, from an unexpected source.
Reddy, an unassuming medium-pacer with just five wickets in his first six Tests, burst things open with the worst ball of the morning. Duckett somehow got himself in a tangle against a leg-side draw down, brushing a catch through to Rishabh Pant for 18.
Ollie Pope was close to following for a golden duck, prodding his first ball low to Shubman Gill at gully, only for a difficult chance to go down.
He got off strike with a thick edge, putting Crawley in the dock to face a snorter from Reddy.
Reddy may have got lucky with the Duckett dismissal, but he earned his second, swinging it in towards the off stump and climbing sharply off a length to get the nick.
England’s foundations had been eroded swiftly by the all-rounder and it almost got even worse.
Pope’s shaky start continued as he edged his third consecutive delivery, this time from Mohammed Siraj, but saw the ball land a few inches short of second slip.
Joe Root restored some calm to proceedings, running well for an unbeaten 24 as he and Pope (12no) reached the interval.
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