IND vs ENG, 1st Test: Spinners, Jaiswal give India Day 1 honours

England got a taste of what their Bazball is up against in Indian conditions. The Indian spinners, on a pitch that offered a bit of turn and bounce, dictated the terms, dismissing the Three Lions for a below-par 246 in 64.3 overs

Hyderabad: England got a taste of what their Bazball is up against in Indian conditions. The Indian spinners, on a pitch that offered a bit of turn and bounce, dictated the terms, dismissing the Three Lions for a below-par 246 in 64.3 overs, on the first day of the first Test at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad, on Thursday.

To make matters worse for Ben Stokes’ side, the Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (76 batting off 70; 9×4, 3×6) showed how the Bazball is played in these conditions, taking India to 119/1 in 23 overs. At stumps, Jaiswal was at the crease in the company of Shubman Gill (14 batting) as India trail by 127 runs.

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Jaiswal started off flicking Mark Wood for a boundary on the very first ball and then hit spinner Tom Hartley for a couple of sixes in the second over to clear his intentions. He raced to his half-century in just 47 deliveries. Both Rohit Sharma (24) and Jaiswal provided blistering start adding 80 runs before the senior partner holed out at mid-on off Jack Leach.

But Jaiswal never allowed the spinners to settle, finding boundaries at will. His counter-attacking game left the visiting spinners clueless.
Earlier, the duo of Ravichandran Ashwin (3/68) and Ravindra Jadeja (3/88) hunted in packs while Axar Patel (2/33) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/28) chipped in with crucial wickets. If not for the lone battle from the skipper Stokes himself, who made a fighting 88-ball 70, England would have folded up for much less total.

Stokes called it right at the toss and the visitors were off to a decent start making 41 in eight overs before Indian spinners took over. Ashwin struck the first blow removing Ben Duckett (35) in the 12th over when he trapped the batter in front of wickets. Three overs later, Jadeja induced an outside edge off Ollie Pope (2) and Rohit Sharma took a sharp catch at the first slip.

In the next over, Crawley (20) gifted Ashwin his second wicket as he advanced down the track to hit the ball straight to mid-off where Siraj took a brilliant catch as England were reduced from a comfortable 55/0 to 60/3 in the span of five overs. Experienced batters Joe Root and Johnny Bairstow did some damage control adding 61 runs, stitched on either side of the lunch break.

However, Axar Patel produced a beauty that missed Baitstow’s bat and castled his off stump to break the partnership. Jadeja then got the price wicket of Root after the batter went for a sweep only to top-edge it to Bumrah at the fine leg. Axar then accounted for Ben Foakes while Bumrah returned to dismiss Rehan Ahmed cheaply.

Stokes, who took 53 balls to score his first boundary, then opened up hitting Jadeja for three boundaries in the 57th over to take his team past 200-run mark at tea. In the final session, Ashwin got his third scalp castling Mark Wood’s (11) off stump. Though Stokes tried to go big, Bumrah ended the captain’s vigil.