Ninth Time In History! England and India Achieve Unique Feat With Identical First Innings Scores In Lord's Test

Hyderabad: KL Rahul’s gritty century, combined with Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja’s half-centuries, helped the Indian team match England’s total of 387 on Day 3 of the third Test at Lord’s. The occasion marked only the ninth time in the history of Test cricket when both teams have posted identical scores in the first innings. With both teams scoring 387, this has become the fifth-highest such total, and each of the four higher ones has ended in a draw.

Pant and Jadeja score fifty, Rahul knocks a century

In the ongoing Lord’s Test, India’s 387 came through a disciplined performance from the batting unit. Rahul scored a superb 100 from 177 deliveries, becoming only second Indian to score multiple tons at Lord’s after Dilip Vengsarkar. Pant added 74 to the team total while Jadeja chipped in with 72 runs.

India’s lower order hung around for a bit, but they weren’t able to add much to the scorecard.

Instances of teams posting identical scores

The first instance of the same first innings scores occurred in the Test between England and South Africa in Durban in 1910, when both sides posted 199. The highest score in such instances was in the England vs West Indies Test in Antigua in 1994, when both teams racked up a massive 593.

In the list, the team total of the current Test - 387 stands in the fifth position. India features thrice on the list; the first time it was against West Indies in 1958 at Kanpur (222), the second instance came against England at Birmingham in 1986 (390), and the third instance occurred in the ongoing Test.

England end Day 3 without loss of wicket

After wrapping up the Indian innings, England came out to bat with eight minutes remaining for the day’s play to conclude.

English openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett face the lone over bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. The hosts signed off the day at 2/0.

The proceedings witnessed some drama as Indian skipper Shubman Gill got into a heated argument with the English openers' duo over wasting time.