Simon Mann
BBC Test Match Special

It has been a promising morning for England so far.

Mohammed Shami has a custard yellow cloth tucked into the back of his trousers which is flapping away, like Flat Eric hanging out a car window, as he runs in busily.

Joe Root dabs the India seamer for one off the final ball of the over to keep the strike and the scoreboard ticking along.

Whisper it quietly, but a relatively serene start by England.

Andy Zaltzman
Test Match Special statistician

This is the 43rd time that Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow have batted together in Test cricket. They average 44 per partnership. There have been seven century stands, and five other fifty stands.

Mohammed Shami with a change of approach to Jonny Bairstow as he drops one in a tad shorter. However, the Yorkshireman has all the time in the world as he rocks on the back foot and pulls it. There's a fielder on the boundary so it's only one, but more encouraging signs from Jonny.

Mark Ramprakash
Former England batsman on BBC Test Match Special

You just feel that with Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root - they have played well for England together before. They are two aggressive players, who like to score.

It's not drinks yet, but after 30 minutes of play Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow have a slurp of something out of plastic bottles brought on by the 12th and 13th men.

Simon Mann
BBC Test Match Special

It is not time for India to get fidgety yet, but they did have England 23-2. The game has gone about as well as it could have for England since day one.

Sumptuous from Jonny Bairstow. He's looking a million dollars after a drive which oozed class. He delicately plants his front foot and times it perfectly off Mohammed Siraj for a boundary all the way along the carpet through mid-off.

Jonathan Agnew
BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

I don't know what that is all about. It was all very odd. It could have been the steward himself.

The steward with the high-vis eventually gets the message and creeps back down into the stands. Inevitably, following a break in concentration, Jonny Bairstow leaves the final ball from Mohammed Shami.

Jonathan Agnew
BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

That is a lovely shot. Mohammed Shami is holding his head in his hands to suggest it was an iffy shot but it didn't look like it from here.

Delicious from Jonny Bairstow as he picks up back-to-back boundaries. This time, a beautiful drive down through long-on.

A delay for the final ball of the over as a man in a high-vis bib proves a distraction to Bairstow.

Jonny Bairstow, bolt upright at the crease, is struck high on the pad by Mohammed Shami but there's definitely some bat on that.

Bairstow plays the next ball with soft, soft, silky hands and the ball is guided through the vacant third man region for four.

Andy Zaltzman
Test Match Special statistician

Joe Root has got three consecutive half-centuries, and he is the first England player to do that for three and a half years.

To get a longer gap, without a World War intervening, you've got to go back to 1905-09.

Mohammed Siraj just strays on to Joe Root's pads and England run three. India not quite on it this morning as they feel their way into day three.

India make a few polite inquiries with umpire Michael Gough about the ball, but a few pushes through the ring thingy and there's clearly nowt wrong with it.

Andy Zaltzman
Test Match Special statistician

It is Joe Root's 72nd score of 50-plus in Test cricket, with 21 of them centuries. It is his third in this series.

In 2021 he has made six 50-plus scores, and he has converted four of the previous five into centuries.

Encouraging from Jonny Bairstow as he picks one of his legs from Moammed Shami. It beats the dive of Mohammed Siraj on the boundary.

There was a calm focus in that shot, rather than anything extravagant.

Although Bairstow has a fortunate escape a couple of balls later when an expansive drive which doesn't quite carry to the slips and brings him another boundary.

Jonathan Agnew
BBC cricket correspondent on Test Match Special

That was nicely played, and well timed by Joe Root.

He is raising his bat to this team-mates, the crowd, and now his parents. They've seen it before of course, but they must still get a tingle seeing their son score a half-century at Lord's. They'll be hoping he can double it at least, as will England.

50 - Joe Rootpublished at 46.5 overs

46.5 overs

A nice way to get to a half-century. A square drive on the front foot and the ball races away through the covers for four.

Root briefly salutes the crowd and his team-mates in the pavilion, but he knows his job today has really only just begun. It's down to business now.