Twitter Reactions: Joe Root and Dom Sibley floor India on Day 1 of Chennai Test
Joe Root slammed his 20th Test century as England ended the day on 263/3.
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After the highs of the Australia tour, Team India took the field at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in the first Test against England hoping to continue the good days. They were jolted with an injury to Axar Patel on the eve of the game who looked set for his Test debut. To make things worse for the hosts, England won the toss and opted to bat on what looked like a flat pitch at the Chepauk.
And what transpired on the field for the whole day was least expected by the Indian fans. The openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley added 63 runs first and applied themselves. Just when one felt that the tourists will go unscathed to lunch, Burns tried an overambitious off Ravi Ashwin only to be caught by the wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant. Jasprit Bumrah then pinned Daniel Lawrence in front of the stumps as England went 63/2 at lunch.
Their best batsman and skipper Joe Root and a set batsman in Sibley were in the middle then and they literally didn’t allow India an inch for the rest of the day. There was a lot of talk around Root’s form in Sri Lanka and the 30-year-old showed his knocks in the island nation weren’t a fluke. He looked assured against the spinners and swept only when necessary churning out easy runs.
During the post-lunch session, there was a period when India kept a lid on the run-scoring and at one stage, it felt as if something will happen. Sibley, especially, was struggling to get going but he was prepared to grind out and was eventually rewarded for his hard work.
Joe Root and Sibley put pressure on inexperienced Indian bowlers
Both the batsmen did a commendable job in not letting India’s inexperienced bowlers, Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar, settle and attacked them with aplomb. There were a couple of moments when Root top-edged while sweeping but apart from that, he looked a class apart unfurling some of the top-notch strokes during his stay in the middle.
In the process, he also got to his 20th Test ton and third in a row in the format and was elated when he got to the mark. Root knows the importance of the innings as it has now set the tone for the rest of the series. At the other end, Sibley looked resolute in his defence and whenever the Indian bowlers, faltered in their lines, he made sure that runs came.
It turned out to be a long day for India who tried hard to pick up a wicket but the credit should be given to England for batting so well. The hosts didn’t field well either as they leaked quite a few runs in the outfield and there was also an overthrow to deal with. Just when it seemed that England will end the day two down itself, Jasprit Bumrah brought back the smiles on his teammates’ faces with a corker of delivery to Sibley.
In the last over of the day, Bumrah sent down a brilliant yorker to take the batsman by surprise and pinned him in front of the stumps. England ended the day on 263/3 after 89.3 overs with Root unbeaten on 128 runs while Sibley got 87 before getting out.
The first session of the second day will be crucial for India if they are hoping to make a comeback in this game. They will have to restrict the opposition to as few as possible. England, on the other hand, will be keen on batting only once and then put India under pressure when the pitch opens up from the third day.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Boom Boom – in the 90th over of the day, bowling his 19th over, Bumrah produces a killing yorker to dismiss well set Sibley. What a genius.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 5, 2021
England’s day but that wicket gives India a little sneak with the new ball tomorrow morning. But the green wicket claim of the curator- oops! Nothing happened on it.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) February 5, 2021
Virat Kohli to the rescue as Joe Root goes down with cramp, having hit a wonderful century 🤝
Test cricket really is the best pic.twitter.com/fKBt8faF1c
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) February 5, 2021
Since 2006, only Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis have faced more balls as an overseas player on a single day of Test cricket in India than Dom Sibley's 285 today. #IndvEng
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) February 5, 2021
Cruel end to a brilliantly defiant innings from Sibley. The distance he's come in three innings is astonishing #IndvEng
— Andrew Miller (@miller_cricket) February 5, 2021
From 62 for 2 to 263 for 3 on day 1 stumps – terrific hundred from Root and 87 by Sibley was the star for England – Bumrah playing his first Test at home took 2 wickets, top spell from the master.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) February 5, 2021
Talk about a fitting way for @root66 to celebrate his hundredth Test Match. I had the privilege of sharing the middle with him on his debut in India in 2012 & for him to mark today’s milestone with a century is nothing short of incredible. A top cricketer; an ever better bloke👏🏻. pic.twitter.com/WVbWWXzfH9
— Ian Bell (@Ian_Bell) February 5, 2021
💯 in his 💯th Test Match. Massive congrats @root66 🔥🐐
— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1) February 5, 2021
Without question @root66 will end up being England’s greatest Batsman across all formats !! #INDvENG
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 5, 2021
Have loved watching @DomSibley today. Doing his job to perfection to allow @root66 to do his. Some quality batting on show.#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/E8pzKTLD24
— Ian Bell (@Ian_Bell) February 5, 2021
Picking players from the IPL is great and will definitely have an impact on wickets that are fast/true(like Aus).
On slow Test wickets like Chennai, you need patience, technique and a smart tactical brain.
This series will prove whether unproven Indian IPL stars have that.
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) February 5, 2021
Partnerships between bowlers are IMPORTANT!
Not at all happy with the bowling performance of India today. Not having Kuldeep Yadav on this track was a big miss for us!#INDvENG— Vinod Kambli (@vinodkambli349) February 5, 2021
It's his 100th test, I'm going to let him enjoy it and let you in on the secret for the second test. 😉🤣 https://t.co/7VOHDv9hf4
— Brad Hogg (@Brad_Hogg) February 5, 2021
Congratulations @root66 A hundred in his #100thtest .. Quality knock ..3rd in Consecutive test. Well played !!
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) February 5, 2021
Congratulations, @root66! 👏
What's been your favourite moment from his Test career so far?#R100T pic.twitter.com/CUt7l4nGgA
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) February 5, 2021
Magnificent 100 in his 100th Test for @root66 Its been a Subcontinent masterclass yet again. Loved his technique and approach especially against Spinners. #INDvsENG #class #leadingfromthefront
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) February 5, 2021
Great way to start the series, skipper leading from the front and showing the way! Well played @root66 👏 100 in 100th test👌 #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/LJrEqw7kUi
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) February 5, 2021
Incredible from @root66 👏🏼👏🏼
— Charlotte Edwards (@C_Edwards23) February 5, 2021
Virat misses Jadeja – BIG TIME!
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) February 5, 2021
Brilliant hundred in 100th test! Congratulations #JoeRoot #INDvENG
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) February 5, 2021
Typical exceptional batsman’s hundred. Made with plenty left in the tank. 👏👏👏#JoeRoot
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) February 5, 2021
Different level @root66 !!! #INDvENG #Rrrroooooootttttttt
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) February 5, 2021
@root66 what a player!!!!!!! 💯
— Ian Bell (@Ian_Bell) February 5, 2021
Sibley & Root putting on a technical masterclass on how to play spin.
GREAT SIGNS!
— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) February 5, 2021
Dom Sibley is like a right handed mirror image of Alastair Cook from the way he picks up his bat to the kind of shots he plays #INDvENG
— Kartik Murali (@kartikmurali) February 5, 2021
Easily the worst thing about modern cricket is when Virat Kohli sneaks up on you while you're having a mid-innings nap and steals one of your shoes.
Astonishing ly, he now has more than 4000 such footwear trophies, including nine (9!) purloined from AB de Villiers. pic.twitter.com/De3AL3F96P
— Dan Liebke (@LiebCricket) February 5, 2021
Bumrah finishing on a high note. Some motivation to watch the game tomorrow morning. #INDvENG
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) February 5, 2021
Joe Root's 2021 Test numbers 🤯
Innings: 5
Runs: 554
High score: 228
Average: 138.50
SR: 65.48
Hundreds: 3#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/ngbpXeAEL7— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) February 5, 2021
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