LONDON (Reuters) -England won the toss and will bat first in the third test against India at Lord's on Thursday under sunny skies at the home of cricket and conditions that should favour the batsmen.

Joe Root achieved the landmark during the third Test of the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy, glancing a boundary off Nitish Kumar Reddy in the 44th over to bring up the 45 runs he needed to cross the 3,000-run mark against India.

Ben Stokes won the third consecutive toss in three matches but decided to bat first, unlike the previous two instances. “Mood’s good in the dressing room. Well fought Test series. We are pushing to come away from Lord’s 2-1 up.