India held on to the competition after another tasteless blow from its big guns thanks to Shardul Thakur’s counterattack 57 and captain Virat Kohli’s noble 50 on day 1 of the 4th Test against England in the Oval in London. Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav gave India a big boost by picking up 3 wickets, including that of danger man Joe Root, before the two teams left for Stumps on Thursday, where 13 wickets fell.
Umesh Yadav slightly shifted the balance in India’s favor by winning the big wicket from Joe Root, who had scored hundreds in as many tests in the Series 3, with a beauty that struck back and hit the top of the stump.
England vs. India, 4th day of testing 1 highlights
England failed with 53 for 3, as Dawid Malan (26 *) was unbeaten together with night watchman Craig Overton (1 *). The hosts were 138 runs behind India’s first innings as the bowlers dominated the oval opening day, with no demons on the field.
Umesh Yadav picks up Joe Root’s large wicket.
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Joe Root, who recently returned to the top of the ICC Test Batting Rankings after 6 years, got off to a quick start despite Jasprit Bumrah picking up English openers Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed in the 4th over of the England inning. Root conveniently tapped singles and played those cut-shots to race to 21.
However, Umesh Yadav, who is playing his first Test of the series, showed a brilliant one to lure Root to 21 to give India the edge at the end of the game.
Earlier in the day Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul started well and completed the first 30 minutes, but Chris Woakes removed the senior opener to cause a breakdown of the top flight. India were reduced to 29 for 3 following another defeat by Cheteshwar Puajra in the first innings.
Virat Kohli shows insights into the return to form
In a move that helped raise eyebrows, Ravindra Jadeja was promoted to 5th when he went in the bat ahead of Vice-Captain Ajinkya Rahane and wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant. The move didn’t work for India, however, as Jadeja fell at 10 am right after lunch.
Ajinkay Rahane’s fights continued as the runner-up looked nervous in his 14-run stint before being knocked out by Craig Overton.
However, Captain Virat Kohli showed signs of returning to form when he reached his 27th Test fifty. The India Skipper was dropped off by Joe Root on the 22nd, but there were a couple of drives and punches that were a glimpse of his vintage self. However, the star batsman fell right after he hit his fifty, troubled by the line outside his stump, this time from Ollie Robinson.
Pants woes in England continued and the wicketkeeper batsman tossed his wicket away while attempting to beat Chris Woakes in the stands for 9.
Shardul’s stunning 36-ball 57
India looked down at 127 for 7 but all-rounder Shardul Thakur, returning to the XI after the first Test, hit a counterattack of 57 with just 36 balls. Shardul went after every English bowler and played his strokes with great conviction.
The all-rounder broke Ian Botham’s record for the fastest fifty in England when he got there with a pull shot for six in just 31 balls. It was also the second fastest fifty by an Indian batsman on the test as he missed Kapil Dev’s mark (30 balls against Pakistan in 1982) by just 1 ball.
Shardul hit 7 limits and 3 sixes and sewed a 63 run stand with Umesh Yadav as India extended their first innings to 191 total.
Also read | Oval test: India overestimates Ravindra Jadeja’s clout abroad, says Sanjay Manjrekar
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