Twitter Reactions: India's relentless pacers blow England away for 183 at Trent Bridge

India have dominated the opening day of the first Test against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. The day began with both the teams surprising with their selections. India picked Shardul Thakur in their line-up ahead of Ishant Sharma while Ravi Ashwin, the premier spinner, was dropped for Ravindra Jadeja. Even England went with an all-pace attack beefing their batting a bit as well by picking Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson.

Virat Kohli’s poor record at the toss continued as Joe Root opted to bat first. And that was the only thing that went England’s way. Jasprit Bumrah opened the bowling for India and struck in the very first over pinning Rory Burns in front of the stumps. It was the perfect set up as a series of away going deliveries was followed by an incoming one and Burns was found wanting right away.

Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley then hung around for around 20 overs adding 42 runs. However, the partnership was broken when the former inside-edged one to Rishabh Pant off his thigh pad. The India wicket-keeper pushed Kohli to take a review which seemed fatal at that time but it proved to be a good one in the end. Sibley then wasted another start falling into the leg-side trap off Mohammed Shami.

England skipper Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow then rebuilt the innings nicely from 66/3. The duo added 72 runs for the fourth wicket as the former looked in exceptional touch. He looked top notch and class apart from rest of the England batters. Root scored a very good half-century to keep India at bay while also treating the crowd with some brilliant shots.

England lose wickets in a heap

Just when things were going away from India, Shami struck at the stroke of Tea to dismiss Bairstow lbw. And in the final session, England collapsed. It started with Dan Lawrence getting strangled down the leg-side followed by Jos Buttler bagging an 18-ball duck thanks to some superb bowling from Bumrah in a relentless spell.

Shardul Thakur pinning Joe Root right in front of stumps was literally the final nail in the coffin for England as he could’ve stretched England’s innings a bit. From 138/3, England were struggling at 160/9 and this time around, India didn’t let the tail wag. However, their last tour’s nemesis, Sam Curran hung around to smash some quick runs, 27 of those, adding 23 runs for the last wicket.

England were bundled out for just 183 runs in the first innings with Bumrah leading the way picking four wickets. Shami was brilliant as well returning with the figures of 17-2-28-3. Thakur plucked a couple while Siraj also picked up a wicket.

In response, India’s openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma had to see off around an hour or so. And the duo survived some of the unplayable deliveries while also impressing with their technique overall. India ended the day on 21/0 in 13 overs to cap off the day absolutely on top. The visitors will have to bat well in tough batting conditions on the second day while England will look for wickets early.

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