1st Test, Day 1: England bowled out; Indian spinners shine
India's dominance in home conditions was on display on Day 1 of the 1st Test against England in Hyderabad. The hosts bowled out England for 246 (64.3 overs) after they elected to bat. Ben Stokes slammed a quickfire 70, while Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets each. India lost just one wicket before stumps (119/1), with Yashasvi Jaiswal tormenting the England spinners.
A look at Day 1 summary
England completed their fifty in just 11 overs, with openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett firing. However, Ashwin and Jadeja reduced England to 60/3. Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root took England past 120 before facing a collapse. Stokes's brilliant 70 brought England back. For India, Jaiswal and Rohit Sharma added 80 runs before the latter departed. Jaiswal and Shubman Gill returned unbeaten at stumps.
Root, Bairstow take England forward
Ashwin broke the Crawley-Duckett partnership in his second over, dismissing the latter (35). After a few overs, Jadeja and Ashwin dismissed Ollie Pope and Crawley, respectively. England were down to 60/3 from 55/0. Root and Bairstow then neutralized the threat by tackling spin. They remained unbeaten as England were 108/3 at lunch. Axar Patel got rid of Bairstow (37) early in the second session.
Most runs in India-England Tests
Root looked comfortable in his 60-ball 29. His knock included just one four. Besides, the England batter added another feather to his cap in Test cricket. He surpassed Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar to become the highest run-scorer in India-England Test matches. Master Blaster Tendulkar smashed 2,535 runs from 32 Tests against England at a remarkable average of 51.73.
A captain's knock from Stokes
Ben Foakes and Rehan Ahmed departed in quick succession following the Bairstow-Root stand. While Stokes held one end, debutant Tom Hartley smashed a quickfire 23. The former was at his best in the final session, taking the Indian bowlers to the cleaners. He took England past 240 and smashed an 88-ball 70 (6 fours and 3 sixes). It was his 31st Test half-century.
Ashwin, Jadeja take three wickets
Ashwin was the pick of India's bowlers in the 1st innings. He took three wickets for just 68 runs in 21 overs, including a maiden. His compatriot Jadeja also took three wickets but conceded runs toward the innings' end. He gave away 88 runs in 18 overs (four maidens). Axar and Jasprit Bumrah scalped two wickets each.
Most wickets by a pair in Tests
Ashwin and Jadeja became only the second Indian pair to take 500 wickets (combined) in Test cricket. Former spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh took 501 Test wickets together in 54 matches. Notably, Ashwin and Jadeja went past the former duo, crossing the 501-wicket mark. Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh snapped up 474 wickets while featuring in 59 Tests together.
Axar's ripper to Bairstow, Bumrah's magic: Other notable highlights
Axar ended Bairstow and Root's bid to take the game away from India by removing the former. He knocked over Bairstow with a ripper, perhaps the ball of the innings. Stokes and Rehan then propelled England past 150. That's when India gained from Bumrah's magic. He bowled a cutter to dismiss Rehan. Bumrah also removed Stokes to end England's innings.
England lose all three reviews inside 14 overs
England have already burned each of their three reviews as they went upstairs for Jaiswal (2.3 overs), Rohit (11.4 overs), and Gill (13.2 overs). As per Cricbuzz, this is the earliest a fielding team has exhausted all their reviews in an innings.
Jaiswal hammers the English bowlers
Jaiswal came out all guns blazing, giving the Englishmen a taste of their own medicine. He smashed a four off the innings' first ball bowled by Mark Wood. Jaiswal then hammered a maximum off Tom Hartley's first ball in Test cricket. By stumps, the left-handed batter had 76*(70) to his name. He has smacked 9 fours and 3 sixes as of now.
Jaiswal enters record books
As per Cricbuzz, Jaiswal now has the second-most runs by an Indian batter in first day's play after fielding first. He is only behind former batter Gautam Gambhir, who scored an unbeaten 95 against Zimbabwe in Harare in 2005.
A look at other notable numbers
Hartley has conceded 63 runs in nine overs as of now (ER: 7.0). Senior spinner Jack Leach was the only English bowler to take a wicket on Day 1. He dimissed the Indian captain. Mark Wood, the only specialist pacer in England's XI, started the proceedings. The opening Day 1 produced 365 runs, the most in India where at least 10 wickets were lost.
Leach has dismissed Rohit five times
Leach has now dismissed Rohit as many as five times in seven Test innings. This time, Rohit was caught after he attempted to take Leach to the cleaners. The Indian captain has racked up just 95 runs at an average of 19.00 against Leach in the longest format. Rohit has a strike rate of 45.89 in this regard.
