Twitter Reactions: Virat Kohli’s ton puts Team India in the driver’s seat

The third and final Test of the series started with Indian skipper Virat Kohli winning his 7th straight toss at home. He chose to bat first and the pair of Murali Vijay and Gautam Gambhir walked out to open the inning. Yes, Gambhir was back to Test cricket after a gap of 24 months and he started off really well hitting a serious of boundaries. His partner Vijay though didn’t last long and was foxed by Jeetan Patel who was introduced in just the 5th over of the game.

Having played some beautiful shots, Gauti looked comfortable at the crease but was trapped in front by Trent Boult for 29. But the three boundaries and a couple of sixes that he hit will give him a lot of confidence. Cheteshwar Pujara was once again solid and batted in his usual self, with patience and conviction. He had the skipper, Virat Kohli for company.

As soon as it appeared that the inning had stabilized and the Indians can switch to attack mode now Mitchell Santner bowled a beauty. It pitched on middle and turned just enough to beat the outside edge of Pujara’s bat and went on to kiss the off-stump. The batsman was stunned and the bowler was mighty pleased.

In walked Ajinkya Rahane, but with the wicket holding up just a bit and the ball not coming onto the bat nicely he struggled. Runs weren’t coming easy for the Mumbai lad but at the other end, Virat was batting like it was just any other surface. He kept the scoreboard rolling and eventually Rahane also got used to it.

Also read – IND v NZ, 1st Test Day 1 Review: Kohli and Rahane pile on the runs

They both got to their half centuries and towards the end of the day Virat looked to accelerate, didn’t shy off hitting the boundaries and it rubbed off on Rahane as well who completed his fifty with a six off Patel.

Kohli by then was all set to celebrate his 13th Test ton. He got there, the first century of the series and remained unbeaten at the end of the day, the duo has added 167* runs for the 4th wicket. With 267 runs on the board for the loss of 3 wickets, Team India looks set for a big one here.

Here is how Twitter reacted right through the day:

https://twitter.com/AltCricket/status/784710112774590464