England pitches India by 78 in 41 overs before reaching 120-0, a 42 lead, at the stumps; James Anderson leads a brilliant 3-6 bowling effort; Haseeb Hameed (60th) and Rory Burns (52nd) then watch the hosts to the stumps
James Anderson won 3-6 in a remarkable new ball spell as England beat India by 78
England took early control of the third round after a devastating bowling display saw India skid 78 on the first day at Emerald Headingley.
James Anderson set the tone with a masterful 3-6 new ball spell in eight overs, sacking India captain Virat Kohli (7) for the second time in the series.
Ollie Robinson (2-16) then hit both sides of lunch before Craig Overton (3-14) and Sam Curran (2-27) took two wickets on two balls as India lost four wickets with no runs to fall to 67- 9.
Innings ended after 40.4 overs, as India, having chosen to hit first, posted their ninth-lowest total of all time in test cricket and third-lowest against England.
Haseeb Hameed (60th) and Rory Burns (52nd) then shared an unbroken position of 120 for the first wicket to hit the stumps, as England enjoyed almost the perfect day as they tried to level the five-match series.
Anderson needed just five balls early in the day to make the breakthrough, drawing KL Rahul into booming momentum and finding an advantage through Jos Buttler.
A handsome late-leaving out-swinger represented Cheteshwar Pujara (1) when he struck behind, defending on a fourth stump line, but it was Kohli’s wicket in the eleventh over that really turned Anderson on fire.
It was another full delivery, another encouraged impulse, just a hint of movement out of the seam and another edge to Buttler to bring a roar of joy from England’s record taker.
Anderson’s control of the swinging and closing ball was at its best, but even once his spell came to an end, India was going nowhere fast and took another hit when Robinson caught Ajinkya Rahane (18) with the last scoop before lunch.
Starting the afternoon session at 56-4, India needed some Rishabh Pant (2) magic, but the counter they hoped for never came as the southpaw threw a relatively wide delivery from Robinson and fell behind. to give Buttler his fifth catch.
The England man became the second goalkeeper, after Australian Brad Haddin, also against India, in 2014, to catch the first five wickets in a test inning.
India starter Rohit Sharma (19) had batted diligently when the wickets collapsed at the other end, but ultimately his firing was tame; slightly surprised by an Overton gorilla and moved a trap halfway while trying to pull.
That was the first of four Indian wickets to fall into six balls without scoring a run, as the tail that had moved to such good effect at Lord’s was quickly defeated at Leeds.
Overton had Mohammed Shami caught in the first ball of the cordon and Sam Curran then caught Ravindra Jadeja (4) and Jasprit Bumrah lbw with successive deliveries.
Neither pitcher was able to complete the hat-trick, but the damage was done and when Joe Root took a strong catch on the first slip to knock out Mohammed Siraj and give Overton his third wicket, India’s miserable first inning ended after. of little more than a session and a half.
He then passed England batters under fire with Burns and Hameed coming out as the home team’s 22nd different starting pair since Sir Andrew Strauss’ retirement in 2012 and hit until tea with minimal fuss.
They continued in the same way in the evening session with Hameed, in his first innings at home as a test starter, looking increasingly confident, defending solidly and taking a series of flashy shots offside.
Burns had started more cautiously, but it was just as sure and while Indian bowlers improved in the first hour after tea, surpassing the limit on a few occasions, England’s starters, in a break with recent tradition. , they stood firm.
The association topped 50 and Burns led them on a streak of India’s total when he pulled out a less-than-impressed Siraj by six in a deep square back before a Hameed limit at 32nd gave England the lead.
It was the first time since the Melbourne Test of the victorious 2010/11 Ashes series that England had passed the opposition’s first-inning score without losing a wicket.
The milestones kept coming with the association of 100 before Hameed offered the only genuine shot of England innings when he managed a full delivery of Bumrah to Rohit in the second slip; the fielder went one-handed, the ball exploded and escaped into a boundary that led Hameed to his third test fifty, 110 balls.
Burns followed suit, taking his 10th half-century test with a superbly timed clip to the midwicket fence in the penultimate finale of the day and Hameed gave the lively Headingley crowd one more cap, his eleventh, to cheer on at the last.
After a day they could only have dreamed of, England will head to day two in a dominant position, but with work still to be done to square the series.
