After a comprehensive victory over England at Edgbaston, the Indian cricket team arrives at the iconic Lord's Cricket Stadium with the hope of continuing the winning momentum. However, after constructing mountains of runs in the second Test, the tourists are set to face a completely different surface in the third match, with the Lord's wicket expected to offer much more help to seamers. Pictures of a green top at Lord's went viral on social media two days before the start of the match. But have things changed since?
The green top, which was displayed a couple of days ago, was expected to be shaved before the match. Ahead of the first day's play, the look of the pitch offers a much more balanced approach by the groundsmen.
Lord's Pitch Report
The venue is the only ground with a 2.5 metre slope, which helps the bowlers generate more lateral movement than usual. Hence, scoring will be difficult on this track.
As can be seen from the images that have surfaced on social media, there's still plenty of grass on the wicket, which is set to get the seamers licking their lips. Expect a lot of lateral movement early in the game.
While the early spells are set to boost seamers, the Day 3 and Day 4 wickets are likely to see the batters making a comeback in the game.
Spinners can come into play on Day 5 as cracks open up. Spinners like Shoaib Bashir, Washington Sundar, and Ravindra Jadeja would not be completely out of the game on this surface.
Lord's Weather Report
While there is no rain forecast, the overcast conditions are set to aid pacers in generating extra swing, especially with the new ball. According to AccuWeather, there's just 3% chance of rain today, with the temperature remaining around 31 degrees Celsius.