Twitter Reactions: Late strikes from bowlers guide India to the ascendancy

The first Test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham is currently taking place. The Indians would be happy for the reason that they ended the first day on an impressive note as the Poms could only manage 285/9 in 88 overs. After all the speculations, the visitors benched chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav, however, the decisions didn’t backfire, much to India’s delight.

Bairstow and Root power hosts

Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat first. Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings commenced proceedings for the Brits and expertly staved off the pacers in Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma. Ravichandran Ashwin castled Cook to draw first blood for India. Ajinkya Rahane dropped Jennings early in the innings and the left-hander went on to score 42 runs after which Shami nipped him out.

Dawid Malan became Shami’s second victim and the home team looked in quite a bit of trouble. At the other end, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow built a stand of 104 runs from 138 deliveries. Both scored impressive half-centuries and looked ominous to take their team to a position of command. The duo played till the end of the post-lunch session and carried on afterward to frustrate the Indian bowlers.

Ashwin shines with the leather

The partnership came to an end when a stupendous throw from Virat Kohli accounted for Root’s wicket. A couple of overs later, Umesh pinned Bairstow. Jos Buttler, who was in jaw-dropping form in the limited-overs fixtures, fell prey to Ashwin. Meanwhile, from a position of strength, the Three Lions stared down the barrel courtesy of the clumps of wickets.

Ben Stokes looked good for the time during his 41-ball 22, but Ashwin cut short his knock owing to a leading edge that safely traced into the bowler’s hands. Adil Rashid and Sam Curran cobbled together a stand of 35 runs, but Ishant picked up his first wicket in the form of Rashid to break the stand. Ashwin eventually finished the day with four wickets when he got rid of Stuart Broad.

Here is how Twitter reacted