England vs. India, 2nd Test: Day 3 Highlights, Scorecard, Report

England and India were neck and neck at stumps on Day 3 of the 2nd Test at Lord's, with the tourists 169-4 in their second innings as they set England a total to chase for victory.

The home side had squeezed enough from their lower order earlier in the day to take a 24-run lead, eventually finishing all out on 319.

India found scoring difficult and the bounce occasionally uneven in reply, but guided by an unbeaten half-century from opener Murali Vijay, they started to build a lead.

The questions of how the pitch deteriorates over the final two days and how long India can continue to bat on Sunday will surely determine the outcome of the match from here.

England did their best with the willow, thanks in no small part to nightwatchman Liam Plunkett. Sent in to bat late on Friday, he looked more assured than Matt Prior, who holed out for 23, and the rest of the lower order.

Extras	3nb 2w 5b 10lb	20
Batsman	Dismissal	Bowler	Runs	Mins	Balls
Cook	c Dhoni	b B Kumar	10	38	29
Robson	c Dhoni	b B Kumar	17	60	42
Ballance	c Dhoni	b B Kumar	110	293	203
Bell	c Jadeja	b B Kumar	16	71	56
Root	lbw	b Jadeja	13	65	50
Moeen	lbw	b Vijay	32	115	106
Plunkett	not out		55	127	79
Prior	c Dhawan	b Shami	23	54	42
Stokes		b B Kumar	0	18	8
Broad	c Dhawan	b B Kumar	4		2
Anderson	c Rahane	b Jadeja	19	32	21
Total	all out (105.5 ovs)	319
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
B Kumar	31.0	10	82	6
Shami	19.0	5	58	1
I Sharma	24.0	5	61	0
Binny	10.0	0	45	0
Jadeja	18.5	1	46	2
Vijay	3.0	0	12	1

Bhuvneshwar Kumar impressed with the ball, picking up the wickets of Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad in quick succession to finish on 6-82, the best figures by an Indian in a Test at Lord's since 1936.

"

Kumar now part of an elite club of Indian bowlers to have taken six wickets in an innings at Lord's. #EngvInd pic.twitter.com/W7GYVPzDoU

— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) July 19, 2014"

But Plunkett also shone, playing some confident and clean shots in an innings worth 55, ended only when James Anderson was caught trying to play an ambitious reverse sweep against Ravindra Jadeja.

India negotiated a brief four-over spell before lunch, and then extended that partnership in the afternoon.

Total	for 4 (63.0 ovs)	169
Batsman	Dismissal	Bowler	Runs	Mins	Balls
Vijay	not out		59	282	190
Dhawan	c Root	b Stokes	31	61	45
Pujara	c Prior	b Plunkett	43	123	83
Kohli		b Plunkett	0		1
Rahane	c Prior	b Broad	5	18	8
Dhoni	not out		12	68	51
Extras	0nb 0w 15b 4lb	19			51
Bowler	Overs	Maidens	Runs	Wickets
Anderson	18.0	7	36	0
Broad	14.0	5	41	1
Stokes	13.0	2	35	1
Plunkett	12.0	5	24	2
Moeen	6.0	1	14	0

Shikhar Dhawan looked languid and stylish in his innings of 31—but a powerful shot through square was plucked out of the air at cover point by Joe Root to give Stokes the opening wicket.

Plunkett then struck twice in two balls with deliveries on a good length, beating Cheteshwar Pujara and then dismissing Virat Kohli for a golden duck when he misjudged the length.

For the first time in the innings India looked rattled, made worse by the dismissal of first-innings centurion Ajinkya Rahane, who was adjudged caught behind to Broad from a ball which missed glove and bat by some distance, striking the arm guard.

But MS Dhoni was able to negotiate his way to stumps, while Vijay ambled unperturbed to the close, having seen off 190 balls in the day for his 59.

Five overs too few were bowled in the day, which may reflect badly on England captain Alastair Cook should the match referee take action on over rates.