- Friday, April 26, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA struck back at England on an absorbing first day of the fourth Test at Kennington Oval, reducing them to 53 for 3 after getting bowled out for 191 in their first innings. Jasprit Bumrah picked both the England openers — Rory Burns (5 off 11) and Haseeb Hameed (0 off 12) while Umesh Yadav took the prized wicket of in-form Three Lions captain Joe Root (21 off 25). England were trailing India by 138 runs at stumps of Day One of what looks to be a promising contest. Dawid Malan was batting on 26 off 46 balls while night watchman Craig Overton was batting on one off eight deliveries.
Earlier, India’s batting line-up struggled once again after Root won the toss and asked them to bat first. It was a breezy knock from Shardul Thakur at No.8 that helped the Asians crawl all the way to 191 from 127 for 7. The bowling all-rounder slammed 57 off only 36 balls after coming into bat with his team precariously positioned at 117 for 6. It was Thakur’s second fifty in international cricket in only his fourth Test match.
Thakur’s knock bettered the 35-year-old record of England great Ian Botham who had slammed a 32-ball 50 against New Zealand in the same ground to become the fastest Test half-century scored in England.
The tourists, who continued with their largely out-of-form batting order in the match, were off to a poor start as both the openers – Rohit Sharma (11 off 27) and KL Rahul (17 off 44) – were dismissed early. Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 91 in the last innings in Leeds, scored only four runs after consuming 31 balls and his departure saw India reeling at 39 for 3.
ALSO READ: Virat Kohli: Not a captain for all seasons?
India promoted Ravindra Jadeja to No.5 to guard a struggling Ajinkya Rahane but he could manage only 10 off 34 and added 30 runs with skipper Kohli, who hit a fifty (50 off 96), his second successive after the 55 at Headingley. Rahane (14 off 47) added 36 with Kohli when the latter fell. Rishan Pant (9 off 33) did not last long either and when he got dismissed, India were looking down to another humiliation. It was then when Thakur played his vital knock and added 63 runs with Umesh Yadav (10 off 20) to take India closer to 200. However, India lost their last three wickets for only one run to get all out for 191.
Shashi Tharoor shocked by India’s playing XI at Oval
For England, comeback pacer Chris Woakes took four wickets for 55 runs while Ollie Robinson took three for 38. Craig Overton and James Anderson took a wicket each.
India made two changes to their team with Thakur replacing Mohammed Shami and Yadav coming in place of Ishant Sharma. Both the dropped pacers had niggle injuries, Kohli said at the toss.
The five-match series is tied 1-1 at the moment with England levelling with an innings victory in Leeds after India won the second match at Lord’s by 151 runs.
Brief scores: India 191 all out (Shardul Thakur 57, Virat Kohli 50, Chris Woakes 4 for 55) vs England 53/3 (Dawid Malan 26 not out, Jasprit Bumrah 2 for 15)
