Watch: Ajinkya Rahane registers his name on the Lord’s honours board with a battling century on a green top
Watch: Anjinkya Rahane scored a sublime hundred on a green top on the first day of the Lord’s Test against England in 2014 to take India to a position of ascendancy in the match.
The visitors were put in to bat by England on a Lord’s surface that was almost indistinguishable from the rest of the field in the second Test contest of the five-match series in 2014.
Given the conditions, India started well and the scoreboard read 86-3 when Rahane came to the crease. However, things started to fall apart quickly in the second session and India were suddenly reeling on 145-7, a score that was a more accurate representation of the bowling-friendly conditions on offer.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar then joined Rahane in the middle. He had scored two fifties batting at No. 9 in the first match of the series at Trent Bridge and was high on confidence. They rebuilt the innings and as Rahane grew more and more comfortable at the crease, he expanded his range of shots.
His knock included several crisp drives, through cover, point, and straight down the ground to begin with. Then as the English bowlers shifted their plans to bowl short at him, he came at them with cuts and pulls, and did not shy away from taking the aerial route either.
Batting on 82, Jimmy Anderson bowled a decent length delivery outside off-stump. However, with the touch that Rahane was in, he shuffled across and extended his arms to play a lofted drive down the ground that ended up going for six, taking everyone by surprise.
He reached his hundred, the second of his Test career, soon after, and was dismissed for 103 off just 154 balls, immediately after crossing the landmark.
India scored 295, conceded a 24-run first-innings lead, batted well again in the third innings to score 342 and give the hosts a stiff target of 319, and then bowled them out for 223 to secure a famous 95-run victory.
