A century stand between Virat Kohli and Ajinyka Rahane saw India take control as Chris Woakes was the pick of the England bowlers – all you need to know from day one of the third Test at Trent Bridge.
SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED | HIGHLIGHTS
The Report
Virat Kohli fell three runs short of his century as India edged day one of the third Test against England at Trent Bridge after being put in to bat, writes Sam Drury.
The India captain shared a fourth-wicket stand of 159 with Ajinkya Rahane (81) and was on course for a second hundred of the series before he edged Adil Rashid (1-46) to slip.
England vs India
August 19, 2018, 10:00am
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Chris Woakes (3-75) had taken three wickets to give England the upper hand at lunch but for much of the next two sessions India dominated as the sun came out, the early swing subsided and Kohli and Rahane took full advantage.
James Anderson (1-52) struck with the last ball of the day to give England a late boost as India closed on 307-6 at Trent Bridge.
Moments of the day
With so much talk about England’s slip fielding, there were two important catches taken in the slip cordon to help England wrestle their way back into the match.
0:23 Alastair Cook takes stunner at first slip to remove Ajinyka Rahane for 81
Alastair Cook’s exceptional effort, which saw him diving to his left and grabbing the ball with one hand despite seeing it late – after wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow chose not to go for the ball – was labelled the former England captain’s best-ever take by Sir Ian Botham. And, Ben Stokes made no mistake when Kohli’s attempted drive off Rashid took the edge of his bat and nestled in the all-rounder’s hands.
There was still time for a catch to go down as Keaton Jennings spilled Hardik Pandya at third slip after the hosts had taken the new ball but Jos Buttler made no mistake as he got rid of the all-rounder with the final ball of the day for 18.
Stat of the day
Kohli and Rahane have made 2,364 Test runs batting together. For both players, it is their most prolific partnership.
Jimmy Anderson became the second England bowler to take 100 wickets against two, Australia and India – different nations.
Talking point
For the 45th consecutive match India named a different starting Test XI as opener Murali Vijay was replaced by Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik by debutant Rishabh Pant and spinner Kuldeep Yadav by seamer Jasprit Bumrah. It always seemed a mistake to have two spinners at Lord’s, so the introduction of a fit-again Bumrah was no surprise and a first Test cap for Pant beckoned after his fellow keeper’s struggles with the bat. However, Vijay seemed particularly unlucky to have lost his place at the top of the order, having been dismissed by two unplayable balls in the second Test.
What they said
England bowler Adil Rashid: “As the day went on I thought it was good to bat on. But if the seamers hit the right area there’s something in for them. It was definitely a nervy start, I haven’t bowled for a little while and it takes a few overs to get into it. But it’s obviously nice to get some overs under my belt. I was looking to bowl wicket-to-wicket and mix my pace up. Fortunately for me he (Kohli) nicked one – that was natural variation.”
Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane: “I think 307-6 is a good score on this wicket. We were looking to put pressure on the opponent but in the end it was a good score. It could have been better, intent was important on this wicket. Our openers played really well up front and our middle-order capitalised.”
Sky Sports commentator David Lloyd: “They were quite resolute this morning. You’ll get a tough first session here in England and you’ve got to tough it out, and I think they did that pretty well. They’ve scored at a good rate too. With hindsight, I think India have got the wrong team. If they can get 450 on the board they need two spinners because I think this is going to spin.”
Tweets of the day
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