Indian spinners, Jaiswal dominate on Day 1 of the England Test

Hyderabad: The Day 1 of the Test match between India and England saw 365 runs being scored at the cost of 11 wickets. England captain Ben Stokes, who had three spinners in his playing XI, called it right at the toss and elected to bat on a pitch expected to turn.

Famous for the Bazball cricket that the England team has been playing recently, their opening pair of Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett went off to a flying start as they scored at about five runs per over. Their opening partnership of 55 runs was broken by Ravichandran Ashwin in his second over of the spell as he sent back Duckett’s (35) leg before the wicket. England lost their next two wickets in quick succession as Ollie Pope (1) and Crawley (20) were dismissed in successive overs by Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin (3/68), respectively. From 55/0, England found themselves struggling at 60/3.

To get things back in order, they needed a partnership. England’s most experienced Test batter and prolific run-getter, Joe Root, joined hands with Jonny Bairstow to stitch a crucial 61-run stand for the fourth wicket. However, after getting off to a good start, the duo failed to capitalise as India’s left-arm spin twins sent them back to the dressing room. Jadeja (3/88) picked up his second in the form of Root (29), and Axar Patel (2/33) snapped his first wicket of the day by getting the better of Bairstow (37), whom he had been troubling right through the day with his probing lines and lengths.

Losing half their side for 125, England still had a lot of gas in their tank as their captain was at the crease. The stylish left-handed batter top scored with a 70 off 88, smashing six fours and three sixes. He found an able ally in Tom Hartley (23), who played a good hand lower down the order. England were bowled out for 246 as Jasprit Bumrah (2/28) picked the final wicket.

With about 25 overs of play left in the day, India came out all guns blazing as their opening pair of captain Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal took the attacking approach. The Mumbai batters piled up 80 runs in 12.2 overs before Sharma (24) mistimed one off left-arm spinner Jack Leach. However, Jaiswal (76 not out of 70 balls) continued to be aggressive as he cruised to his second Test half-century. Shubman Gill played the perfect second fiddle, quietly finding his way to 14 runs off 43 balls. India ended the day with 119/1 and are 127 runs behind.