5 discussion points: England beat India in first Test
England beat India by 31 runs in the first Test at Edgbaston to take a 1-0 lead in the 5-match series. Ben Stokes was the chief architect of England's victory with 4/40 in the 2nd innings. In pursuit of 194, India were bowled out for 162 runs with Virat Kohli top scoring with 51. Let us have a look at key discussion points.
Sam Curran makes the difference with both bat and ball
Sam Curran was the best player, for England, in this Test. The 20-year-old ran riot and picked 4 wickets in the first innings including a fiery spell where he took 3 important scalps. His spell put India on the back foot, In the 2nd innings he hit a commanding 63-run knock after England were reeling at 87/7. Those runs made the difference.
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Two brilliant phases by Stokes with the ball were instrumental
The hero for England was Ben Stokes and he bowled like a lion in both the innings. He bowled a lethal spell in tandem with James Anderson to get Ajinkya Rahane and DK as India came down to 100/5 in the first innings. Stokes then came hard on Day 4 and got Kohli and Shami in the same over. It changed the game completely.
Indian batsmen did not show the temperament
Indian batsmen did not do enough and never showed the temperament needed to hang in there. England bowled well, but when one looks at some of the dismissals, the shots on offer were poor. Shikhar Dhawan's footwork was missing after getting a start. Ajinkya Rahane might be dropped for the 2nd Test as he looked clueless in both the innings.
Credit to Indian bowlers for 20 wickets
Indian bowlers continued their good work and picked 20 wickets. Together the pacers did a commendable job. Ishant Sharma was the star of the show with a five-for in the 2nd innings that included three scalps in an over. Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav bowled quick. Ravichandran Ashwin was superb with 7 wickets to his name and got Alastair Cook twice.
Slip catching a worry for both sides
Both teams dropped catches in the slip cordon as the issues were highlighted once again. England especially could have dominated India, but Cook and Malan dropped dollies when India were 100/5 in the 1st innings.
