(Reuters) – India bundled out England for 183 with an impressive display of seam bowling to put themselves in a commanding position after day one of the opening test yesterday.
Joe Root made a composed 64 but his decision to bat first backfired as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami wrecked the hosts sharing seven wickets between them. India moved to 21 for no loss in reply, batting out the last 13 overs without any damage to cap off a highly satisfying day.
Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul were both batting on nine and looked comfortable against the seaming ball at Trent Bridge. The first match of the five-test series also marks the beginning of the new World Test Championship cycle.
Earlier England, who looked steady at 138-3 before the tea break, lost their last seven wickets for 45 runs and four of their batsmen had ducks against their name.
After Root elected to bat, Bumrah (4-46) gave India a perfect start by dismissing Rory Burns lbw for a duck in the first over. Zak Crawley drove and pulled with confidence and was looking good before falling to Mohammed Siraj in an eventful over after making 27.
India captain Virat Kohli had burnt a review in that Siraj over and was reluctant to go for a second but wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant was adamant. Kohli relented and replays confirmed Crawley had indeed nicked Siraj to perish caught behind.
Shami (3-28) had bowled without luck in the morning session but struck soon after lunch, luring Dom Sibley into flicking him to short midwicket where Rahul had been stationed precisely for that kind of dismissal.
Root hit Siraj for three consecutive boundaries and frustrated the Indians with his composed accumulation of risk-free runs.
Jonny Bairstow looked well set too until Shami trapped him lbw for 29 and the wheels soon came off the England innings.
Root had looked largely unperturbed but Shardul Thakur trapped the home captain lbw, ending a fine knock that included 11 boundaries.
Sam Curran made 27 not out before Bumrah returned to polish off their tail.
England opted for a seam-only attack, while India dropped off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja being their lone spin option.
