Alastair Cook’s wretched run of form continued when he fell for just 10 runs yesterday morning in the second Test against India at Lord’s.

The England captain has made 107 runs in eight innings this year and his run without a hundred was extended to 26 after he edged Bhuvneshwar Kumar behind to a diving Mahandra Singh Dhoni.

He and Sam Robson have therefore yet to register a half-century opening stand in six Test attempts together.

Cook’s day began with a minor morale boost, when he clung on at the second attempt to a straightforward slip catch — his 100th in Tests — to end the India innings for the addition of only five runs to the overnight total, after Ben Stokes found Mohammed Shami’s edge.

He and Robson then began watchfully but with relatively few initial alarms on a pitch which appeared less green than when Cook put India in on day one.

Movement off the seam and in the air was not so lavish either but India’s new-ball pair Kumar and Shami bowled more testing lines than England had 24 hours earlier.

England’s openers had looked secure until Cook was dismissed to continue his poor innings for England.

Gary Ballance salvaged some hope for his side, being dismissed for 110 before England closed the day on 219-6.