A remarkable day comes to an end! Indian captain Virat Kohli notched up his 22nd Test century, also his first in England, to save the day for his side. After a healthy start to their innings, the Indian batsmen succumbed to pace but Kohli survived the probing England bowlers to reduce India’s deficit by 13 runs. The firebrand cricketer hit 149 off 225 balls and lifted India from 182/8 to 274/10. England, who topped India in the first and second session, gave the momentum away to India in the third session on Day 2 of the first Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Here are the highlights from Day 2 of the 1st Test:
That’s a wrap! Thank you for joining us, stay tuned for live updates from Day 3.
# England (9/1*) lead by 22 runs.
#Stumps!!
# Wicket!! A replay? Ravichandran Ashwin spins a ripper from the middle to knock Cook’s off stump, just like the first innings. Cook’s poor show against the off-spinner continues as he departs for a duck. Ashwin has dismissed Alastair Cook for nine times now.
# Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings will open the innings for England.
#Innings break
# England lead by 13 runs.
# India 1st innings: 274/10 ( Virat Kohli 149/ Sam Curran 4 for 74, James Anderson 2 for 41)
An unbelievable hundred from Virat Kohli. India’s captain leading from the front, and you can tell just what it means from the celebration. What. A. Knock.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/fNOLVAUzNB
— ICC (@ICC) August 2, 2018
#Wicket!! Adil Rashid tempts Virat Kohli with a flighted delivery and has him caught by Stuart Broad at backward point. Virat Kohli departs on 149. What an innings.
# What a turnaround!! Skipper Kohli (143) has built a 51-run partnership with Umesh Yadav (1) and India trail by 19 runs. This is Test cricket at its best.
#CENTURY!!! Virat Kohli cuts and cuts beautifully to bring up his first Century in England. A hard-fought century for skipper Kohli.
#Wicket!! Adil Rashid gets the better of Ishant Sharma with a googly. Ishant Sharma departs. Kohli (97) is running out of partners here.
#Wicket!! Anderson swings it away from Mohammed Shami, who flashes an edge to Dawid Malan. Malan heaves a sigh of relief. India 182/8.
# Wicket!! James Anderson joins the party. Beats Ashwin (10) with a good length delivery, that comes in to knock the top of off-stump. India 169/7. Click here for the detailed scorecard.
# Miss!! Virat Kohli walks across to flick James Anderson on the leg but gets hit on the front pad. Umpire dismisses the appeal, Root opts for a review and wickets are missing. What a con’test’ this is turning out to be.
# What a remarkable session of Test Cricket. England picked up three crucial Indian wickets to win the session. India, on the other hand, went down to pace. Ajinkya Rahane (15), Dinesh Karthik (0) were sent off by a fired up Ben Stokes and Sam Curran got the better of Pandya (22), who had nearly survived the session. Skipper Virat Kohli, who was dropped at slip twice, had to fight it out for his 100-ball half-century. India trail by 127 runs and have four wickets in hand at Tea.
FIFTY!
Captain @imVkohli leading from the front, brings up his 1st half-century in England off 100 deliveries. It is also his 17th 50 in Test cricket.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/nCYc8oOcDp
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 2, 2018
India 160/6 (Virat Kohli 53 / Sam Curran 4 for 38, Ben Stokes 2 for 40). India trail by 127 runs
#Tea break
# Dropped!! Stokes bowls a full-pitched delivery and Virat Kohli jabs an edge towards the second-slip but Dawid Malan drops it. This is could be costly for England!!
# Half-century!! Skipper Virat Kohli nudges Stokes’ ball towards third man, the ball glides away to the boundary ropes and Kohli brings up his 17th Test half-century. It is also his first fifty in England. Kohli’s previous best score was 39, which he scored in the third Test of the 2014 England tour.
# Wicket!! Curran strikes again, full-pitched delivery swings in to thump Pandya on the foot. Ravichandran Ashwin is in at number eight. India 148/6.
# Attacking move by Joe Root as he brings Sam Curran into the attack. The left-arm pacer’s angling ball would certainly pose difficulties for the Indian batsmen.
# Click here for the detailed scorecard.
# Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya need to tire the English bowlers out. Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya have spent quite some time in the middle now. They need to build a partnership and tire the English bowlers out. England continue to probe the outside off-stump line and it needs to be seen if Kohli and Pandya can hang-on till Tea. India trail by 158 runs.
# Interestingly, in the current Indian squad, only Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay have scored centuries in England. Murali Vijay smashed 146 in the first test at Nottingham and Ajinkya Rahane hit 103 in the 2nd Test at Lord’s in the 2014 Test series.
# Dropped!! Dawid Malan drops Kohli at second slip off Anderson’s delivery and Alastair Cook drops Pandya off Stokes’s delivery at first slip. The England bowlers are fired up.
# Miss!! Ben Stokes nearly had Pandya out. Angled the ball towards Pandya, and had him plumb on the front and the Umpire declared him out. Pandya was saved by a review as the wickets were missing.
# India 100/5
#Wicket!! Stokes skids through Dinesh Karthik’s bat and pad gap to knock his middle stump off the ground. What a delivery, Karthik goes for a duck. Advantage England!!
#Wicket!! Ajinkya Rahane gets caught in two minds and edges Stokes’s short delivery to Keaton Jennings at gully. A soft dismissal that. Dinesh Karthik is in at number six. India 100/4. Click here for the detailed scorecard.
# India 76/3
# After a healthy start to their innings, India lost three wickets to Sam Curran. The left-arm pacer took three wickets in consecutive overs to jolt the Indian innings. India were 50/0 when Curran made the first breakthrough. He pitched it up to Murali Vijay, who got caught in an awkward position, and the angling ball had him plumb in front but the umpire was not interested. Skipper Joe Root had a word with the keeper, Curran and asked for a review, a rather brave one after losing one earlier. The wickets were hitting and a settled Vijay had to walk back. And then there were two, KL Rahul, still in his ODI gloves, dragged a pitched up delivery back to his stumps and Shikhar Dhawan, who got off to a great start, flashed his bat to hand an edge to Dawid Malan at 2nd slip. The game turned intense when James Anderson, who suddenly got his rhythm back, had Virat Kohli at the crease. A replay of sorts, when he got Kohli to nudge an out-swinger outside the off-stump towards gully but fortunately for the Indian skipper the edge fell short of Jos Buttler at gully. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane need to a build a partnership and survive till tea is served.
#Lunch break
# Wicket!! Curran is fired up today. Pitched-up delivery invites Dhawan to drive but the latter flashes his bat and hands an easy catch to Dawid Malan at 2nd slip. India 59/3 after 16 overs.
# Anderson/Kohli contest!! The last time India toured England, Virat Kohli, who had a horrible season, was troubled and dismissed by James Anderson on multiple occasions. All eyes on the outside-off stump now.
#Wicket!! Curran strikes again, pitched-up delivery and KL Rahul (4) drags it back to his stumps. India lose their second wicket. India 54/2
# Wicket!! Sam Curran makes the first breakthrough for England. The left-arm pacer creates a brilliant angle and keeps it straight to trap Murali Vijay in an awkward position. Umpire dismisses the appeal but after much discussion, Joe Root goes for a review. Impact- in line, Wickets- hitting, Vijay departs for 20. India 50/1. KL Rahul is in at number three.
# Shikhar Dhawan (21) Murali Vijay (20) look in good control, driving the pitched up deliveries and letting the outswingers go. James Anderson and Broad have given away freebies to India but a wicket or two could shift the momentum. Skipper Joe Root replaced Broad with left-arm seamer Sam Curran, who has so far beaten Murali Vijay with his angled deliveries. The biggest question right now is, will Root bring spin into the attack? Considering Ashwin’s ripper to Alastair Cook early on Day 1. India 50/0
# Click here for the detailed scorecard.
# The Indian openers need to wear out the new ball particularly when James Anderson and Stuart Broad are bowling. Both Anderson and Broad are a deadly pair to bat against, both can swing at will and persistently bowl outside the off. Testing times for Vijay and Dhawan, they need to put their head down and read the ball well. India 18/0 after 5 overs.
# Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan will open the innings for India.
Innings Break!
Mohammed Shami sets Curran up and picks up the final wicket.
England all out for 287.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/DIfZylBNZ2
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 2, 2018
England 1st innings: 287/10 (Joe Root 80, Jonny Bairstow 70/ Ravichandran Ashwin 4/62)
#Wicket!! Shami swings the ball away from Sam Curran and Dinesh Karthik takes a comfortable catch. England are all out for 287
The hosts looked set to a competitive target after Joe Root (80) notched up his 12th half-century successive half-century against India and shared a 104-run partnership with Jonny Bairstow (70). However, a fiery throw from skipper Virat Kohli had Joe Root run out and India capitalised to take five more wickets as they restricted England to 285/9 on Day 1.
Ravichandran Ashwin, who picked up four crucial wickets, was the pick of the Indian bowlers. He turned a ripper to rattle opener Alastair Cook’s (13) off stump early in the innings and forced Root and Jennings to put their foot forward and defend. The off-spinner fought back in the third and final session to dismiss Ben Stokes (21), Jos Buttler (0) and Stuart Broad (1) cheaply as he finished with figures of 4 for 60.
Playing XI:
India XI: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma.
England XI: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root (c), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson.
Source: Zee News