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KL Rahul is only the second Indian to have scored more than one Test century at Lord's. (PTI Photo)
KL Rahul scored his 10th Test century in 176 balls on Day 3 of the third Test between India and England at Lord’s. This is Rahul’s second century of the series and he is now the 18th Indian man to have got his tally of career Test centuries into double digits. He couldn’t go much further though, falling off the very next ball that he faced to Shoaib Bashir on exactly 100 off 177 balls.
Rahul earlier scored his half-century in 97 balls towards the end of Day 3. He was a constant for India at one end as they lost three wickets at the other. A fiery Jofra Archer marked his comeback Test with an early wicket as he dismissed a quick-firing Yashasvi Jaiswal in just the third over of the innings. Karun Nair then stuck with Rahul and the pair saw India through to the end of the session.
Rahul is now just the second Indian ever, and the first in nearly three decades, to get a second mention on the Lord’s Honours Board for batters. Rahul joins Dilip Vengsarkar as the only Indians to have scored a century more than once at Lord’s, with his previous ton being in the team’s famous 151-run win in August 2021. Rahul was player of the match for his 250-ball 129 in India’s first innings, although it is remembered more for its dramatic fifth day in which Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami put up an unbeaten 89-run ninth wicket stand which came in just 120 balls, followed by Mohammed Siraj’s 4/32 which powered a fiery Indian side to victory. Vengsarkar’s three centuries came in August 1979, June 1982 and June 1986.
Constant presence for at one end
Rahul and Nair shared a 61-run stand off 113 balls. However, the latter, missed out on a half-century by 10 runs thanks to a sensational catch by Joe Root at first slip off England captain Ben Stokes. India’s in form captain Shubman Gill then fell to Chris Woakes having scored just 16 runs after which Rahul and Rishabh Pant saw India through to Stumps. The pair have continued relatively serenely, although Pant was managing an injury he sustained while keeping wickets, in the morning session of Day 3 with England looking rather flat and devoid of ideas.
It looked like Rahul would complete his century before Lunch but instead, the session ended in the worst possible manner for India in the circumstance. Rahul took a single to reach 98 in 171 balls off the first delivery of what turned out to be the last over of the session by Shoaib Bashir. The batters then went for a rather tight single after Pant defended the third ball towards cover point. Pant then hesitated right at the start of the run though and Stokes ran in, picked the ball and fired a flat throw at the non-striker’s end. Pant dragged his bat but was well off his mark and he thus had to walk on 74 off 112 balls. At Lunch, India were 248/4.
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