India’s Ravichandran Ashwin notched up four wickets to bring India back into game after debutant Keaton Jennings scored a magnificent hundred as England ended Day 1 of Mumbai Test at 288 for five.
Alastair Cook won the toss and elected to bat first at the Wankhede Stadium. Both sides made two changes. As for England, the 24-year-old Keaton Jennings was awarded his maiden cap in the absence of injured Haseeb Hameed while Jake Ball was picked for Gareth Batty. For India, KL Rahul and Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned for injured Ajinkya Rahane and Mohammed Shami respectively.
Well supported by Alastair Cook on other end, Keaton Jennings looked to settle down after getting dropped on zero by Karun Nair in the third over itself. Sliding and glancing the balls into empty areas, the pair was closing in for a 100-run partnership for first wicket before Ravindra Jadeja deceived the captain in flight and got him stumped, giving India their first breakthrough of the match. Overs later, England took lunch at 117/1.
In the second session, Jennings off started the proceeding by smashing couple of boundaries early on. Joe Root, who looked a bit uncomfortable against spin from the outset, edged one to Virat Kohli, who took a blinder in slips to gift Ashwin his first wicket. England were reduced to 136/2. The two left-handers Moeen Ali and Keaton Jennings then drove their side to a safety position with their elegant strokeplay.
During the course of the innings, umpire Paul Reiffel was taken off the field after a loopy throw from Bhuvneshwar Kumar hit the 50-year-old Australian on the back of his head, resulting in an injury. Jennings then took no time to break into history books, as the left-handed batsman notched up a magnificent hundred on his debut and thus became the 19th Englishman ever to achieve such a feat in Tests. The second session completely belonged to the visitors as they went into tea at 196/2.
The last session of the day held all the drama as Moeen Ali, who brought up his fifty moments earlier, top-edged one of Ravi Ashwin’s bowling, handing the offie his second wicket. Two balls later, a cherishing innings from Jennings came to an end on 112. Jonny Bairstow, who had Indian bowlers dancing to his tune so far in the series, couldn’t stand the spin as he became Ashwin’s fourth victim by playing the wrong line, edging one to deep-backward position for just 14. With three quick wickets, India seemingly pulled the match back in their favor.
India looked to take the control as Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler struggled to get their innings forward against spin. With couple of close reviews going against the hosts, spinners did feel some faded fortunate sitting by their side. The hosts pulled the last session their way as the Day 1 of fourth Test ended at 288/5.
Stumps On Day One:
England – 288/5; Keaton Jennings 112(219), Moeen Ali 50(104), Ravichandran Ashwin 4/75.