England vs India: 3rd Test, Day 1, Review- Kohli and Rahane carve a satisfying day for India

The cat amongst the pigeons was already set amongst the Indian camp after they slumped to back-to-back defeats against England at Edgbaston and Lord’s respectively. Prior to their third Test at Edgbaston in Nottingham, Virat Kohli and his men were in for a demanding test of resurrecting their derailed campaign. They made as many as three changes in a bid to turn their wretched fortunes around.

Jasprit Bumrah, who recovered from the finger injury, replaced Kuldeep Yadav. Murali Vijay, who bagged a pair in the last contest, had to make way for Shikhar Dhawan, who didn’t play the previous match. The axe also came down on Dinesh Karthik and Rishabh Pant got his maiden international cap. At the close of play on Day 1 India would be fairly satisfied as they got themselves up to 307/6 in 87 overs.

Woakes halts India’s surge  

England won the toss and had no hesitation to field first and the decision also suited Kohli and Co as the Indian captain expressed his desire to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul opened the batting and the duo put on 60 runs in 112 deliveries to take the visiting team off to a brilliant start. Both batters didn’t allow the bowlers to settle down and helped India storm into the ascendancy.

However, Chris Woakes picked up three wickets in a space of eight overs to undo India’s good start. He drew first blood by picking up Dhawan, who scored 35 runs with seven boundaries. In his next over, Rahul was trapped plumb in front for 23 runs. Cheteshwar Pujara went for a pull shot but holed out to Adil Rashid at fine leg. The visitors slumped from 60/0 to end the session at 82/3 in 26.4 overs.

Kohli and Rahane steadies the ship

Yet another time, Kohli’s men were in danger of being shot out after managing to get England by the scruff of their necks. After the fall of the third wicket, the onus was on Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane to get the innings back on track. On the contrary, the home team would’ve loved to make further inroads into the batting lineup and pile on further agony for the visitors.

To the Brits’ despair, Rahane and Kohli played the entire session and put on 107 runs in 176 deliveries. In the meantime, both also accomplished their respective half-centuries. The sun shone brightly and India found themselves in a strong position as they ended the session with the score at 189/3 in 56 overs. The Poms, on a rare occasion, seemed to have run out of options.

Late strikes keep proceedings even steven  

Kohli and Rahane resumed the final session in their own merry way and looked determined to play out the remaining overs of the day without any further hiccup. Unfortunately, Rahane perished to Broad for 81 runs courtesy of a superb reflex-catch by Alastair Cook in the slip cordon. Their stand eventually fetched 159 runs, much to India’s relief. Thereafter, Kohli went on in his own merry way.

But just when he was poised to notch his 23rd Test century, Adil Rashid nipped him out for 97 runs. Rishabh Pant whacked the tweaker to get off the mark with a belligerent six over long on in his very next over. Hardik Pandya, who has been a recipient of severe criticism, was dismissed for 18 runs. Pant remained not out on 22 runs and India breached the 300-run barrier for the first time in the series.

Brief Scores

India: 307/6 in 87 overs; (Virat Kohli 97, Ajinkya Rahane 81; Chris Woakes 3/75, Adil Rashid 1/46)

Close of Play: Day 1

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