India grabbed the honours on the opening day of the third Test as they reduced Alastair Cook’s men to 268 for 8.
Earlier, England skipper Alastair Cook won the toss and expectedly elected to bat first. But on a pitch that had little to offer for the bowlers, the Indian fast bowlers made life difficult for the England openers. However, just like the previous two matches, the Indian fielders failed to compliment their bowlers and dropped few catches. England skipper Alastair Cook was dropped twice but fortunately, it did not prove costly for the hosts as Cook was dismissed for 27. Before him, Haseeb Hameed was dismissed for 9 by Umesh Yadav. Joe Root also did not last long as he returned to the pavilion after scoring only 15. The visitors were in a spot of bother after being reduced to 87 for 4. But a 57-run partnership between Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow steadied the ship a bit. Another partnership of over 50 runs between Bairstow and Jos Buttler helped England to cross the 200-run mark. The 69-runs partnership ended when Buttler was dismissed by Jadeja. Losing wickets at regular intervals never allowed England to get a solid platform for a big score but Bairstow held firm from one end to help England score a decent score. His gutsy knock 89 was finally ended when Jayant Yadav dismissed him LBW. The visitors eventually ended the day on 268 for 8. Gareth Batty and Adil Rashid will start the proceedings with the bat on the second day.
Here is how Twitter reacted to the day’s play:
And that is that. England end the day on 268-8. With the exception of Jonny Bairstow, bitterly disappointing. #INDvENG
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) November 26, 2016
Guess the only patel who is worth the nomination is the RBI governor. Parthiv patel is disproving his nomination to the test team #INDvENG
— AurNab ComeSwami (@KhaaliYuga) November 26, 2016
https://twitter.com/Vida15/status/802458337463836673
Parthiv Patel's 1st dismissal in Tests was England opening Batsman
Parthiv Patel's 50th dismissal in Tests also England opening Batsman
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) November 26, 2016
The number of dropped catches in this series is a huge Matter of concern for India, ASHWIN ,Jadeja , kohli , rahane ! #INDvENG
— Dr Rikin Gogri ?? (@dr_rikin) November 26, 2016
England hellbent on losing wickets out of the blue – because team strategy was to surprise India#INDvENG
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) November 26, 2016
Hi mate @KP24, is your India visa still active? #INDvENG
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 26, 2016
Does Ashwin need to stop being a bowling batting all rounder so he can be a catching fielding all rounder #INDvENG
— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) November 26, 2016
Other Teams Send Batsmen As Openers, England Sends A Cook. 😉#INDvENG #INDvsENG
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) November 26, 2016
So every other player in the Indian XI today made his Test debut after Parthiv Patel played his last Test #INDvENG
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) November 26, 2016
KL Rahul has already missed more matches than Rahul Dravid did in his entire career. #Unfortunate #Injuries #INDvENG
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) November 26, 2016
That Awkward Moment When Gautam Gambhir Is Replaced By KL Rahul,But Rahul Is Replaced By Karun Nair.Nice Plan To Get Rid Of Gambhir#INDvENG
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) November 26, 2016
Test cricket – and this breaks my heart – is dying.
Day 1 of an India-England match, starting on Saturday, & the ground is virtually empty.— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) November 26, 2016