London/IBNS: Joe Root remained unbeaten at one short of his 37th Test hundred with his captain Ben Stokes on the other end when England ended the first day's play at 251/4 in the third match against India at Lord's in London on Thursday.

Root played 191 balls to score 99 as England grinded on day one in a departure from their aggressive 'Bazball cricket'.

The former England captain hit nine boundaries in his classic display of Test cricket.

Root stitched a vital 109-run partnership for the third wicket after India's allrounder Nitish Reddy dismissed both the openers in the 14th over.

But the breakthrough to Team India was provided by allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, who got rid of Ollie Pope (44) in the 50th over.

Pope was caught behind the wicket by substitute wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel.

India's premier bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who returned to the squad after a long break, dislodged number one Test batter of the world, Harry Brook's stumps.

The number one Test bowler in the world opened his account with a perfect seam angling back to breach Brook's defence.

Stokes, who is unbeaten at 39 off 102 balls, scared the English crowd as he struggled after experiencing some discomfort in the groin. However, the injury is likely not too serious.

India too suffered an injury scare as wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant was hit on the tip of his left index finger.

Though the vice-captain resumed service soon after leaving the field in pain, he had to bring in Jurel as his replacement later.

Meanwhile, England, who suffered a crushing defeat of 336 runs in the second Test, introduced Jofra Archer in place of Josh Tongue to their squad.

The five-match series is evenly balanced at 1-1.