Root (54 batting) and Ollie Pope (44 batting) were guarding England’s fort at the interval.

It was Root’s 67th fifty in Test cricket.

India’s both success came in the first session of the day when pacer Nitish Kumar Reddy dismissed openers Zak Crawley (18) and Ben Duckett (23) in the same over.

Brief Scores: England: 153 for 2 in 49 overs (Joe Root batting 54, Ollie Pope batting 44; Nitish Kumar Reddy 2/35). PTI UNG PDS PDS