Image Credit- AP
Despite a light start, England lost their top order on
the opening morning of the highly anticipated series in India. After deciding
to bat first and selecting a spin-heavy attack, Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley put
up 55 runs for the first wicket to give England a strong start against the new
ball. However, England found it difficult once India brought in their renowned
spin combo of R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. They fell to 60/3 before Joe Root
and Jonny Bairstow counterpunched to push them to 108/3 at the lunch break.
With an unsteady start, Mohammed Siraj first bowled a
half-volley up to Crawley, who duly put it away. Before Duckett’s subsequent
over against Jasprit Bumrah, Crawley too demonstrated early aggression by
retrieving a boundary off the next delivery. The openers continued hitting the
bad balls for boundaries as the run rate remained above five after the first
eight overs, despite the fact that both bowlers managed to beat the edge on
several occasions.
The way the openers played compelled Rohit Sharma to
use spin on both ends, and it was a wise decision. Duckett was trapped leg
before wicket by an Ashwin skidder, and although the batter questioned the
ruling, the replays indicated that the ball might have nicked the leg stumps.
The next to depart was Ollie Pope, who appeared hesitant during his brief
appearance at the wicket, as he edged Jadeja to the slip fielder.
Jadeja looked to have trapped Joe Root
leg-before-wicket on the second delivery, and England would have been in
serious trouble, but the batsman was able to hold onto his wicket even though
India chose to contest the on-field call. But India scored on the very next
delivery when Crawley misplayed a chip to mid-off, allowing Ashwin to claim his
second. England quickly went from being 55/0 to 60/3, and they needed the
seasoned pair of Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root to turn things around.
The two batsmen were able to accomplish that to some
extent. Bairstow was the first to get off to a good start against Jadeja with a
couple of boundaries. Before the interval, Ashwin was taken out of the attack
by Rohit to make sure the two left-arm spinners were taking the two
right-handers. However, the two batters emerged unhurt and added 48 to provide
England with a solid base for the second session.