IND vs ENG | Rip-roaring Kuldeep fifer triggers typical Bazballian collapse on chaotic Day 1

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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A backdrop of the mighty Himalayas inspired no serenity in England's batting approach as they tumbled to 218 all-out on a benign deck in Dharamsala despite Zak Crawley's assertive 79. The hosts in response raced to 135/1 on the back of fifties from both openers, with Rohit Sharma remaining unbeaten.

‌Brief score: IND 135/1 (Jaiswal 57, Rohit 52*; Bashir 11-2-64-1) trail ENG 218 (Crawley 79, Bairstow 29; Kuldeep 15-1-72-5) by 83 runs

It was a case of not being good enough to nick the ball for Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett through the first hour of play in Dharamsala as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammad Siraj had the duo on the ropes through an exceptional display of swing and seam bowling. The former was particularly brilliant, squaring Crawley all hands up on several occasions before explicitly asking him how he was still at the crease while bowing out of the attack. Nevertheless, once the spinners came on, the openers returned to their Bazball roots to bring up a fifth half-century stand in the series, the joint-most in a series in India. However, just as they had begun to get going, Kuldeep Yadav saw Duckett needlessly sky one to depart for an atypical 58-ball 27 before having a charging Ollie Pope comprehensively stumped at the stroke of Lunch to bring India back into the game at 100/2.

Crawley carried on from his unbeaten half-century to stamp further authority after the break that was only challenged by Kuldeep's variations. The battle eventually came to a head courtesy of a vicious ripper that turned 11 degrees to beat a thawing drive and crash into the stumps. IPL seemed to have come early thereon for Jonny Bairstow as he smashed two maximums and as many boundaries in his 18-ball blitzkrieg for 29. However, as has been the case throughout the tour, he ended up playing a shot too many to nick a Kuldeep googly and Joe Root's steady 26 fell victim to a Ravindra Jadeja arm ball four deliveries later which triggered a fatal collapse for the Three Lions. Another Kuldeep googly that turned square to trap Ben Stokes plumb for a duck and a pair of twin blows by Ravichandran Ashwin either side of Tea in his 100th Test meant 175/3 culminated into 218 all-out.

The sun was glaring when India came out to bat and Rohit made optimum use of the benign new ball by being at his sublime best. The skipper displayed the full array of backfoot punches, straight drives, and hooks, while Yashasvi Jaiswal welcomed Shaoib Bashir into the attack with three massive sixes and kicked off following a sedate start. However, the off-spinner had the last laugh as a rush of blood saw Jaiswal stumped for a run-a-ball 57 after the gung-ho approach had earned the pair 104 runs together. Nevertheless, Rohit kept plugging away to bring up his 18th Test half-century and Shubman Gill carried on in the same vein as his predecessor to accumulate 36 quick runs, thus seeing the day through with an unbeaten partnership of 31. 

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