Another hour goes by and another perfect hour in this Test for England. In-form skipper Joe Root smashed yet another hundred as England ended the second day of the third cricket Test at 423 for 8, taking a first-innings lead of 345 runs against India in Leeds on Thursday.

On day 1, India won the toss and elected to bat first against England in the third Test being played at Headingley. India, who are leading 1-0 in the five-match series, have gone in with an unchanged XI. 

Meanwhile, India now looking to put pressure on the England batsmen after having finally broken the opening partnership. Dawid Malan is the new man in at no.3 and he has returned to the England Test setup after a long gap!

Meanwhile, James Anderson, on Day 1 was at his best as he took KL Rahul (0), Cheteshwar Pujara (1) and Virat Kohli (7) in the first session on Day 1 of the Headingley Test. Ollie Robinson also removed Ajinkya Rahane (18) in the final of over before the break as India went into the Lunch at 56/4 with Rohit Sharma unbeaten on 15.

After waiting of the last 50 overs, India gets rid of the frustrating opening stand. Mohammed Shami, from around the wicket, produced a special delivery. It nips back in sharply and takes the top of the off stump of Rory Burns. Played down the wrong line and Burns paid the price for it. He walked back after scoring 61.

Winning the toss, India skipper Virat Kohli said that they would like to bat first as the wicket was ‘nice and firm’. He added that, “Runs on the board will be crucial to set up the test match.”

India won the second Test by 151 runs. On an action-filled final day, Indian pacers bowled England out for 120. India will now look to win the series and create history. The only time that India won more than one Test match on an England tour was in 1986. 

England brought in Craig Overton for injured paceman Mark Wood and Dawid Malan — the No. 1 batsman in Twenty20 international cricket — for Dom Sibley, who was dropped from the squad. Malan will bat at No. 3, meaning Haseeb Hameed will jump one place to open.

England are looking to turn their fortunes around and level the series. Their batting lineup has looked shaky and unreliable throughout this series. At the toss, skipper Joe Root said that the onus would be on the openers to give them a good start. 

India Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.

England playing XI: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson.

After winning the Lord’s Test, India currently lead the series 1-0. The first match ended in a draw after the final day’s play was called off due to rains.