England on top after end of second day's play at Lord's
First day of the second Test was washed out due to incessant rain and finally, play was possible on the second day. Joe Root won the toss and, as expected under cloudy skies, invited India to bat first. Both the team had made a couple of changes in their line-up. For England, Woakes replaced Stokes and Pope was included in place of Malan. India brought in Pujara in place of Dhawan and an extra spin option in form of Kuldeep Yadav in place of Umesh Yadav.
England's opening bowlers, especially Anderson, extracted some prodigious swing owing to the moisture in the wicket. Indian batsmen's vulnerability against moving ball was once again exposed as India lost both the openers in quick succession. Vijay, went for a lazy shot across the line for a ball moving away and got his stumps uprooted.
Rahul was tentative against the moving ball during his short stay at the crease. This accounted for his downfall, as he poked at a ball moving away. When it seemed England were on the ascendancy, rain came to rescue for the Indians and play was stopped in the 7th over with India's score reading 11/2.
Play did resume after a couple of hours only to last for two more overs. India lost their third wicket in this period. Pujara was run out after a terrible mix up with Kohli.
Finally, rain gods relented and there was some sunshine in the last session. There were two hours of scheduled play left in the day. Kohli and Rahane came out in the middle to resurrect the Indian innings. They started off really well and stitched together a partnership.
For once, batting looked settled for India. Root introduced Woakes into the attack to replace Anderson and this proved to be a masterstroke as India's best batsman, Kohli found it difficult to negotiate the swing generated by Woakes. Unfortunately for India, he did not last long and edged one to slip. Pandya, who came in next, went for one shot too many to be gobbled up in the slip as well. Karthik's nemesis with the incoming ball continued as he was bowled out for the second time in this series.
Ashwin and Rahane tried to build the innings. Ashwin, in particular, played some wonderful cover drives which were a treat to watch. This partnership did not last long as Anderson was brought back and he accounted for Rahane's dismissal with a beautiful outswinger. He cleaned up the tail to finish with another 5 wicket haul. India were bowled out for a paltry 107 in just 35.2 overs.
England go into the third day with the match firmly in their control. India would need to bowl really well to restrict England to a smaller total in their first innings if they want to make a comeback in this Test.