London: Pacers gave India cushion to recover slightly ahead of England as Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav combined for three early wickets in the final session on Day 1 of the fourth Test at The Kennington Oval.
The hosts lost Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed and skipper Joe Root and are at 53/3 at stumps, still trailing by 138 runs. Dawid Malan (26 not out) and Craig Overton (1 not out) are currently at the crease.
Earlier, it was England who dominated the first couple of sessions bundling India out for 191 although Shardul Thakur’s blistering 36-ball 57 was the highlight of the day with skipper Virat Kohli also chipping in with another half-century. The visitors right from the start felt the heat with both the openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul departing early.
Cheteshwar Pujara who rescued India in the last game didn’t offer much with a single digit against his name while Ajinkya Rahane too went home cheaply. Chris Woakes and Olie Robinson were in the mood as the conditions suited them. India started to get some with Kohli playing postively right from the beginning of his innings but the skipper after notching up a fighting knock of 50 fell to Robinson.
With India struggling at 106/6 at one point in time, Thakur started an onslaught clobbering English bowlers to all parts and his infact it was his knock that pushed India’s total close to 200. The Mumbaikar smashed his half-century in just 31 balls with a massive six off Robinson.
Woakes (4/56) on his return to the red ball game led the charge for England’s bowling with Robinson (3/38) again showing his quality. Although the hosts hoped for a good start from their opening duo, Bumrah didn’t let them settle in, packing both of them cheaply with Haseeb Hameed going for a duck. Skipper Root looked to have started where he left it at Headingley but Yadav dismissed him just before the stumps.
Brief scores: India 191 (Shardul Thakur 57, Virat Kohli 50; Chris Woakes 4/56, Olie Robinson 3/38) vs England 53/3 (Dawid Malan 26*, Joe Root 21; Jasprit Bumrah 2/15). Match to continue.
