Despite Jonny Bairstow’s hard-fought resistance, Indian bowlers including Umesh Yadav, Jayant Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja clipped two wickets each as England ended Day 1 of the third Test at Mohali at 268/8.
Under the overcast conditions in Mohali, England won the toss and elected to bat first. Both sides made couple of changes as for India, Karun Nair made his debut while Parthiv Patel returned in the Test outfit after eight long years.
Much to their concern, the hosts didn’t get off to a good start as they dropped England skipper twice within first ten overs. The wicket-to-wicket bowling from the pacers earned India their first break-through, when Umesh Yadav got rid of Haseeb Hameed for just nine.
Joe Root and Alastair Cook could not pile up runs on board as a bizarre shot from the right-handed batsman trapped him in front of the wicket, giving Jayant Yadav his first scalp of the match. Five deliveries later, Ravichandran Ashwin removed Cook for 27 runs, compensating for dropping him earlier on. An over later, Moeen Ali, who performed well in the first two Tests, became Mohammed Shami’s first victim of the day. At lunch, England were 92/4.
Just as England started to look comfortable against the spin in second session, Ravindra Jadeja got the better of England’s best batsman of the tour so far, Ben Stokes. Already livid for playing a wrong line, Stokes received a send-off from Kohli as both were involved in a heated exchange of words after that. Not just this, during the proceedings of the match came an incident when the Indian skipper threw the ball back to the keeper and on its way it hit Jonny Bairstow, leaving the batsman annoyed.
— Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@cricketworms) November 26, 2016
Jos Buttler then joined Jonny Bairstow as the pair carried England through the session without losing another wicket. In that course, Bairstow completed his 10th fifty of the year and second of the tour. England were 205/5 at tea.
Failing to build a partnership has been a concern for the visitors and that’s what happened in the last session of the day. Buttler couldn’t capitalize on his opportunity as a loose shot from him added another wicket to Jadeja’s kitty. England were reduced to 213/6 after 68th over.
Just before Parthiv Patel’s comeback to the side could be questioned for dropping Bairstow on 89, Jayant Yadav shifted the focus on him as his straightener dismissed the dangerous looking wicket-keeper on the very next ball. Kohli could surely breathe a sigh of relief after that.
Later in the day, Umesh fetched some reward for bowling exceptionally well as he notched up all-rounder Chris Woakes with a peach of a delivery, leaving England with just tailenders to bat.
At Stumps On Day One:
England – 268/8; Jonny Bairstow 89(177), Jos Buttler 43(80), Jayant Yadav 2/49.