With all eyes at the Kennington Oval expecting to witness a good contest, this is what exactly was portrayed! India and England have ended on the same levels after the action of the first day. However, England has a bit of the edge since India was bowled out for 191 in the third session itself. At the end of the day, England ended at 53/3, losing the all-important wicket of Joe Root. Here’s a roundup of the entire day: –
First Session: –
The first session witnessed England going on top. The toss was won by Joe Root and the Englishmen chose to bowl. The wicket seemed like a batting one, but considering the overcast conditions, the choice to the field was a good one. In the initial 7 overs, the Indian openers looked on a song while scoring 28 glorious runs in the form of illustrious drives. But their resilience was ended by Chris Woakes, the comeback man. He sent Rohit back. Pujara too just scored a single flick to the boundary, before nicking one to the keeper. Rahul too didn’t last long. After 3 wickets were down Jinx was expected to come to bat but it was Jadeja who was promoted. At the stroke of lunch, the scorecard read 53/3 India.
Second Session: –
The second session saw Jadeja and Virat surviving the initial half-hour. Joe Root dropped Virat at first slip. But just in a fraction of few deliveries, Jadeja nicked one to Joe. Joe picked a clean low catch this time. Rahane walked in next. Simultaneously Virat made sure that the scoreboard was ticking. Virat notched up a fifty and immediately perished to Ollie Robinson. The score at that time was 105/5. Rahane and Pant joined hands then. In a matter of 12 more runs, Rahane’s fight was ended as well. This was just before the tea break! England dominated this session too!
Third Session: –
The third session is the one in which India turned the tide. Shardul Thakur went Blitzkrieg. He went on banging the English bowlers to resurrect the Indian innings. He intended to score a quick-fire cameo. It was an innings filled with drives, hooks, and pulls. He scored a 50 in 30 balls. Shardul fell LBW for 57 to Woakes. The Indian innings ended at 191.
The Indian Bowlers bought India back in the game. The English innings began on a sour note. Rory Burns fell after slicing the ball back onto the stump. Haseeb nicked one to Rishabh. Mala and Root tried to reconstruct the innings. But this attempt was halted by a “Jaffa” from Umesh Yadav. The Brits ended the day stranded on 53/3.