By: Tarish Bhatt
England got off to a great start by dismissing India’s in-form openers, KL Rahul and Murali Vijay. They did whatever they could with the new-ball. But, the hosts ensured that they remain in command at stumps on Day 1.
Captain Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten century, while Cheteshwar Pujara struck his third successive hundred. They stitched a crucial 226-run partnership for the third wicket to put India in the driver’s seat.
“Wanted to build on that Rajkot hundred. We wanted to build a partnership,” Pujara said. “We wanted to bat through the session. The way we started we were rotating the strike.”
At the end of day’s play, India were at 317/4. Kohli (151 not out) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1 not out) were batting.
Read More: Indian Team in Cruise Control on Day 1
Read More: Virat Kohli, Pujara Rebuilding for Hosts
The partnership between Kohli and Pujara blew away the English attack. They never looked under pressure, and played shots at will. Both completed their hundred at almost the same time, just after tea.
England, meanwhile, managed to dismiss Pujara soon after he completed his century. He got playing an uncharacteristic shot off James Anderson. Anderson then struck with the second new-ball just before stumps.
The England bowling spearhead made the ball talking and dismissed Ajinkya Rahane (23). Rahane and Kohli stitched a 68-run partnership, but the former never looked like playing with confidence.
Earlier, England made early inroads with the new-ball by dismissing Rahul (0) and Vijay (20) cheaply. Anderson was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Stuart Broad picked one.
