England vs India 3rd Test: Discussion points from Day One
India ended Day One of the third Test against England at 307/6. The match swung one way and the other throughout and it finally ended evenly poised. England have made a comeback especially from the moment when Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane threatened to score massive hundreds. Wicket on the last ball of the day hurt India. Here are the key discussion points.
Indian openers show teeth against England
Indian openers finally showed some grit. The duo of Dhawan and Rahul saw off the new ball and added 60 runs for the first wicket. This was significant improvement for India. Notably, this the third combination in as many Tests that Kohli has used. Dhawan (35), in particular, looked positive and played some nice looking shots. This is like a shot in the arm.
Woakes on top of the show yet again
After his heroics at Lord's, Chris Woakes showed why he is such a valuable asset in Tests. Woakes bowled with a plan and was rewarded. He got Dhawan to poke a ball that angled away. KL Rahul was foxed with the in-swinger after a series of out-swingers that went past his bat. And getting Cheteshwar Pujara with the short ball was terrific.
India falter at crucial stages
Right at the stroke of lunch, Woakes got Pujara to hook a short ball and was caught at long on. That dented all the good work done by the openers earlier. And then, once again, at the end of the day, James Anderson got Hardik Pandya to nick a ball that he should have left. Notably, it is when the day ended.
Kohli amongst runs, Rahane in rare good touch
Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane showed immense character and got India to a position of safety. Their 159-run stand was the side's first triple digit partnership in the series. The duo played with a familiar tempo and defended strongly. Rahane looked in rhythm finally and made use of this rare form. Kohli continued to amass crucial runs. Both missed out on centuries though.
Adil Rashid bowls the delivery of the day
Rashid looked short of confidence and was struggling to pitch the ball right. But he served the anti-climax moment of the day after getting Kohli to nick a ball tossed up outside the off stump. Till then he was bowling a lot straighter.
