3rd Test: Pope has his 'fingers crossed' as Stokes battles injury at Lord's

London, July 11 (IANS) England skipper Ben Stokes seemingly struggled with an apparent groin injury during Day 1 of the Lord’s Test on Thursday. He was seen limping around the pitch while he navigated his way to an unbeaten 39 at Stumps.

England vice-captain Ollie Pope has his ‘fingers crossed’ and is hoping for a magical recovery for the all-rounder, given the importance of the third Test, with the series tied at one-a-piece.

“Fingers crossed he can do something magic and come back strong. Clearly we've got a big Test over the next four days and a big two coming up. It's important to try to manage him.

"One of my roles is to make sure he doesn't push himself to a ridiculous place. I'm sure the physios and medics will work with him to lay out a plan and I'll help push him in the right direction,” said Pope in the post-day press conference.

Joe Root showed his class in making runs on a hard-fought and attritional day of Test cricket, reaching 99 not out as England reached 251/4 in 83 overs against India at stumps on day one of the third Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test at Lord's.

Although England showed incredible resiliency and grittiness in the face of the Indian bowling attack, it was quite a contrast to their usual aggressive ‘Bazball’ style of play. Pope, who scored 44 off 104 deliveries, said England are satisfied with the way they adapted and will aim for a 400-500 + score.

"It was not necessarily the way we are used to going about the first innings but 251-4 is a pretty good score. Hopefully, now we can take it north of 400, maybe 500. We would have liked some more but considering the nature of the surface, and the way India bowled, it is a day we will take.

"We had to adapt the way we do play - that is something we are constantly trying to be better at, working out when to press the button and when to absorb pressure,” he added.

--IANS

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