Hello and welcome to Sportstar's highlights from Day 1 of India vs England, First Test at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
A riveting day of Test cricket for the English batsmen as skipper Joe Root led the charge with a magnificent hundred and Dom Sibley played second-fiddle with a gritty 87. The English openers began well before Ravichandran Ashwin removed Rory Burns and Jasprit Bumrah followed up with a searing delivery to remove the young Dan Lawrence.
Since then, Root who has hit a purple pitch in the sub-continent, continued his blazing form with a third Test ton on the bounce as the Indian bowlers were taken apart completely. India's second-cast bowlers, Nadeem and Sundar, failed to keep a bar on the run flow as England made merry on a 'boring' pitch with a 'dead' ball at India's disposal since the 50-over mark.
Bumrah, in his inimitable self, provides\d a breather for the host off the final over of the day as a world-class yorker castled Sibley who looked solid throughout.
With an excellent start to its tour, England will target a minimum of 400 from here on! Join us tomorrow as the action unfolds in Chennai!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
England 263/3 after 89.3 overs - STUMPS. OUT! And Bumrah delivers just in time before we shut shop! What a brute of a delivery to Sibley who had waded through all of it for the whole day. A pity end for him at the end of day's play as he misses out on a well-deserved hundred. Dom Sibley lbw b Bumrah 87 (382m 286b 12x4 0x6)
Looks like Bumrah has delivered a snorter right on cue! A ripping yorker crashes on to Sibley's pads.
Final over of the day coming up. Bumrah with the ball. Will the paceman through up a trick from his armoury?
250-run partnership between Root and Sibley - blew away India from the tussle on Day 1 completely.
England 261/2 after 87 overs: Root smashes Sundar for a whopping six and wobbles down to the ground. Seems like the long haul has brought in cramps on his feet. Nevertheless, an incredible six from the skipper to unsettle the Indians even further ahead of stumps.
England 250/2 after 84 overs: England in full command as Root and Sibley takes the side to 250. Bumrah and Ishant have found no avail with the new ball at their disposal.
England 247/2 after 81 overs: The misery piles on irrespective of the ball and that is evident with a cracking cover drive by Root off Ishant on just the third delivery from the new cherry.
India has opted for the new ball. Ishant Sharma returns to the attack.
England 235/2 after 80 overs: The new ball is due and surprisingly Kohli and his boys have not taken it instantly.
1 over to go for the new ball. India in absolute desperation for the new cherry.
England 227/2 after 78 overs: And there it gooooooess! Joe Root gets to his 20th Test hundred in his 100th Test. Sundar rushes one to his pads and Root guides down to fine leg to complete his third hundred in three matches in Asia on the trot .
IND vs ENG, 1st Test: Joe Root scores century in 100th Test
England 218/2 after 77 overs: Root on 98.
He has raced his way through his innings in manic pace, but credit goes to his partner Sibley as well who has played 246 balls with supreme confidence.
England 205/2 after 74 overs: England moves past 200! Root is on a hurry to get his hundred before the day's play and with 45 minutes to go, he's nearly there. 20 runs have come off the last three overs and England may be racking up as much as possible before taking a defensive route against the new ball.
England 185/2 after 71 overs: Root is blazing to yet another hundred. Nadeem is taken apart with another stupendous sweep shot from the England captain. Kohli and India are forced to play on the defensive up until the availability of the new ball.
England 177/2 after 68 overs: A wry return for Sundar as Root employs the sweep on a poor delivery flighted down towards the pads. India seems out of sorts in its plans at the moment as the runs are suddenly coming at a brisk rate for England.
Just in case, if things seemed a bit easy around here.
England 167/2 after 65 overs: Nadeem's poor outing continues. A highlights reel is on loop with another full delivery run down and Sibley steps down and works it through the midwicket boundary.
England 158/2 after 62 overs: India will hope to lay its hand on the new-ball as early as possible. Ishant has looked sharp with the sharp while Nadeem is found wanting at the other end. Sibley and Root continue to pile on as they seem entirely at home.
Most 50+ score in test vs India (among active players) Joe Root - 14* Steven Smith - 13 Angelo Mathews - 7
England 147/2 after 59 overs: 50 for Joe Root in his 100th Test. His supreme command over the spinners sees him rock back on the backfoot once again to smash Nadeem for a boundary through mid-wicket. Kohli seems to have gone under the pump and is visibly frustrated.
England 141/2 after 58 overs: An excellent start from Ishant. The softened ball keeps a tad low and Ishant pitches it at the perfect length and induces two under-edges off Root, one that presents itself low to a diving Pant who misses it by a whisker.
Sibley 53* and Root 45* return to the crease. Ishant Sharma returns to the attack.
Folks, we are back for the last session of the day. England has done enough to get on Kohli's nerves. The Indian skipper has run out of options as Nadeem and Sundar have looked blunt alongside the ball which has scuffed up dead. A moving session is up ahead.
England 140/2 after 57 overs: And the sides break for Tea! England makes 73 runs from 30 overs in the session. India fails to crack through the pair of Root and Sibley in a period dominated by the visitor.
England 138/2 after 55 overs: Imperious touch from Root! Ashwin is paid for an odd-loose delivery as Root pulls it through midwicket for a cracking boundary and doubles it up with a gorgeous drive through the covers. England gaining firm control of the session.
England 126/2 after 52 overs: A searing yorker from Bumrah in a follow-up for a slower one outside off to Sibley, nearly has the number of the opener on it. Bumrah ups his pace by 14ks but Sibley has managed to get his bat down in time to negate a wicket for the Indians.
The Indian bowlers have bowled eight no balls by now!
50 for Dom Sibley! An excellent knock from the opener against a potent Indian lineup.
England 123/2 after 50 overs: A quiet over from Bumrah and now Kohli brings Ashwin from the end. The desperation for a wicket slowly grows for India.
Jasprit Bumrah returns. Kohli anticipates his talisman to induce an error.
England 119/2 after 48 overs: 50-run partnership for Sibley and Root. Nadeem presents the opener with two full deliveries who accepts the same and sends them racing to the mid-wicket fence.
England 109/2 after 47 overs: Sibley takes on Sundar once again. The young offspinner has been inconsistent with his length and Sibley sweeps one past square leg for a boundary. There has been a boundary a over with Nadeem and Sundar operating from either end.
England 100/2 after 44 overs: Sibley brings up the 100 in style! Steps down to Nadeem's loopy delivery and flicks it through the on-side for a beautiful delivery. Root and Sibley have quelled the Ishant-Ashwin threat and have smartly taken on the loose deliveries presented by the inexperienced duo of Nadeem and Sundar.
England 91/2 after 41 overs: Root greets Sundar with a classical drive through the covers. Sundar corrects his line and gets Root to misjudge a full delivery and go for the sweep. The England captain barely keeps the shot under check at the last moment.
Washington Sundar finally gets a go!
England 81/2 after 38 overs: Brilliant from Ishant! Root stays firm on the crease, expecting Ishant to push the ball into him. The paceman sends one away right on cue and induces the edge that nearly carries to Rohit at first slip.
Joe Root holds his thigh as he seems to carry a bit of a niggle.
England 81/2 after 37 overs: A probing over from Ashwin. The offie induced two false strokes from Dom Sibley from around the wicket. Ashwin loops the ball in and lures Sibley to step down with two strokes that nearly finds Washington Sundar at midwicket on the full.
Joe Root averages 85 against Ravichandran Ashwin in Tests, from 438 balls faced against him.
Has India made a mistake without picking Kuldeep Yadav for a hint of variety n the XI?
England 78/2 after 34 overs:
Root and Sibley exchange the strike with ease. Seems like India's early ploy post lunch with a packed leg side field has not worked so far.
Ishant Sharma is back into the attack..
England 72/2 after 31 overs: Signs of added positivity in Ashwin and Bumrah. The pair has bowled in a fine channel to Root in particular with a packed on-side field close in to the batsman. Bumrah has managed to whip in a seaming delivery at regular intervals and Root has done well to play the ball on its merit.
England 68/2 after 28 overs: Fine start from Bumrah post lunch. He tails the ball in to Root who manages to keep the impending danger at bay for now.
Skipper Root and opener Sibley back at the crease. Bumrah to resume his spell.
We are back for the second session!
England 67/2 after 27 overs: LUNCH! England has another scare as Root scampers for a risky single. Ashwin rattles the stumps at the non-striker's but the England captain makes it home just in time. Talk about being run out in your 100th Test! And the teams head into Lunch. Just when the English openers displayed utmost solidity, a wicket from the blue brought another for India as Ashwin and Bumrah struck off successive overs.
The England captain Joe Root and opener Dom Sibley have a stiff task post-lunch.
England 64/2 after 25 overs: OUT! Two-in-two for India! Bumrah comes in with a ripper to the new man Lawrence. Bumrah nails in a perfect seaming delivery that zips in sharply and wraps on Lawrence's pads. Nothing that the batsman could have done against a brute of a ball. An easy decision for the umpire and Bumrah has his first Test wicket at home. Dan Lawrence lbw b Bumrah 0 (5b 0x4 0x6)
Jasprit Bumrah is back in the attack. A good move from Kohli with the new man Lawrence in at the crease.
England 63/1 after 24 overs: OUT! Ashwin provides the breakthrough ! A needless shot from Rory Burns as Ashwin comes over the wicket and Burns could not resist to exploit the gap behind the point fielder. The left-hander tries the reverse-sweep and scoops the ball straight up. Rishabh Pant comfortably gloves the ball as India finally crack open the England innngs. Rory Burns c Pant b Ashwin 33 (60b 2x4 0x6) SR: 55
England 58/0 after 23 overs: Nadeem and Ashwin have assumed little assistance from the pitch and Burns and Sibley have displayed excellent movement towards the ball to cash in on the vulnerabilities of the bowlers.
England 51/0 after 20 overs: 50-run partnership for the opening pair! A first for England after eight innings. The comeback man Burns has looked at ease against Ashwin while Sibley has chipped in with the occasional boundary to anchor the innings. Burns-Sibley are just the fifth pair to get a 50-run opening stand in India in the last five years.
England 45/0 after 17 overs: A loose start from the left-arm spinner as he pushes the ball short and is punished for a near boundary from Burns for three and Sibley rocks back and cuts through point for four of the final ball.
Shahbaz Nadeem in to the attack.
England 33/0 after 14 overs: Ashwin is yet to surprise Burns and Sibley with a special one. The openers have negated the offie and Bumrah in this spell with minimum fuss.
The Sibley-Burns partnership is now the longest opening partnership against India in India in the last 14 Tests (27 innings), since March 2017 against Australia in Ranchi..
England 25/0 after 11 overs: The England openers have played well against Bumrah who has nagged back one into the batsmen every now and then. Save the initial overs, Burns and Sibley have looked firm at the crease.
England 16/0 after 8 overs: And Sibley hits the first boundary of the day off Ashwin. A short ball outside off-stump from Ashwin and Sibley rocks to the back foot and guides it towards the third-man fence.
Ravichandran Ashwin into the attack.
England 10/0 after 5 overs: A ripper from Ishant to complete the over. The ball straightens on the seam after moving in line of the middle-stump and Sibley plays all around it. A fine start from India's bowlers as Kohli has employed an aggressive field for Ishant with Pujara stocked in at silly mid-off.
England 2/0 after 2 overs: Dropped! Rishabh Pant misses a low chance. Bumrah nearly has a wicket off his first Test delivery in India! Not the best of balls as he slides one down towards the onside. The ball finds the edge of Burns and slides down to Pant who misses the low chance to his left. The ball clips his hand and moves away as Pant winces in pain.
England 1/0 after 1 over: A fine start from Ishant Sharma and India. Ishant is on the money from ball one and attacks the off-stump first up.
9:30 am - England openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley are walking towards the middle. Ishant Sharma is warming up with a run-in!
9:24 am - The teams have lined up for the national anthem.
We are few moments away from action!
9:13 am - A couple of home Test debutants for India in Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar and Shubman Gill. Meanwhile, England has left out the veteran Stuart Broad and all-rounder Moeen Ali who had a good outing here four years ago. Dan Lawrence comes in as a last minute change with the injured Zak Crawley ruled out to injury.
9:00 am - Toss Time: England wins the Toss and chooses to bat.
Kohli: It's a hard surface... would have batted first too. Good cricketing wicket. I come in, Ishant, Nadeem, Washington, Ashwin both start. We play two offies and a left-arm spinner Nadeem who is playing his second match.
Root: The wicket will deteriorate and we want to make good use of it in the first innings. It's a big challenge and the boys will have to relish it.
8:55 am - Skipper Joe Root and wicketkeeper are presented with special caps ahead of their milestone Test.
8:50 am - Who's lifting this one?
Jasprit Bumrah will feature in his first Test match at home. The slingy paceman has 79 wickets from 17 tests overseas.
- Since Bumrah's debut in Jan 2018, he has picked the most wickets overseas in the last three years. He is followed by fellow pacers Shami and Ishant Sharma.
Stat Attack
Joe Root
will feature in his
100th Test for England today. Interestingly, the England captain made his
Test debut against India in 2012 at Nagpur and also played his
50th Test in Vizag in 2016! Root will become the 15th Englishman to the milestone.
Root vs India in Tests:
India vs England at Chepauk: Played - 9 Won Ind - 5 Won Eng - 3 Draw - 1
Ishant Sharma is three wickets away from being the sixth Indian and third fast bowler to pick 300 Test wickets.
Ishant's numbers so far:
Match Preview
Team India returns to action in whites after an epoch-making tour Down Under in Australia. An Indian side without its talismanic skipper, Virat Kohli, scripted a tale like no other in recent Test memory for the fans.
Two weeks later, India embarks on its first home series of the decade as it takes on an upbeat English side that won its tour to Sri Lanka in convincing fashion.
With the return of the captain Kohli, pace spearhead Ishant Sharma and Hardik Pandya who will be up for selection, India clearly begins the series as the favourite with a World Test Championship final scenario still open for both sides.
READ |
Skipper Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler, pacers Anderson and Broad were part of the horrendous tour to the sub-continent in 2016/17 and the team has scaled new heights ever since.
With an inexperienced top-order coming under the pump in the recently-concluded Sri Lanka series, the likes of Dom Sibley, Rory Burns, Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence will be eyeing to learn the craft and finesse from skipper Root in hostile conditions.
Last meeting at the venue: India took on England at Chennai in the fifth and final Test of the 2016 series where the host steam-rolled England by an innings victory. India went past England's first innings total of 467 with a mammoth 759/7 (India's highest Test total), courtesy a whirlwind 303* from Karun Nair and a 199 from KL Rahul to lead the proceedings. Indian then bowled out England for 207 as Ravindra Jadeja's 7/48 broke the English fightback.
What they said-
"We will try to give as many options as possible as far as bowling combination is concerned. Guys (Bowlers) having the ability to bat as well, that has been the pattern of success for us in home conditions over the last few years. It is a normal Chepauk pitch. Quite a nice batting track, with spinners getting assistance eventually in the game. But the track is good enough for the fast bowlers also. It is a generally good cricketing wicket." - Virat Kohli on theChepauk pitch and why Axar Patel got the nod of ahead of Shahbaz Nadeem for the Test series.
“Having played against him as well and being at the wrong end of him, making some huge scores and been out there for long periods of time, you know you learn from those kinds of innings. And you have seen his importance, the value that he adds to the Indian team, he is going to be a huge wicket for us, no doubt about that.” - Joe Root on the importance of Cheteshwar Pujara's wicket for England during the series.
Squads:
India Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, R Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel
England Squad: Joe Root, Jofra Archer, Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Dom Bess, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Ben Foakes, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes
Comments
SHARE