England 25-0, losing by 70, at the end of the third day of the first test, hit by rain; India were 278 in total; KL Rahul (84) and Ravindra Jadeja (56) make the hosts pay for missed opportunities; Ollie Robinson claimed England’s first five; James Anderson becomes third tallest carrier in test history
Ollie Robinson made his inaugural test for five, but England were left to lament a series of missed opportunities that allowed India to gain a 95-run lead in the first inning in the series opener at Trent Bridge.
The teams were frustrated by rain for the second day in a row at Nottingham, with time lost to downpours at the beginning and end of the third day. However, in the middle, the tourists were able to put themselves in a strong position to press for victory.
KL Rahul made the most of his knockdown twice to make 84 and Ravindra Jadeja (56) also scored half a century before the tail moved, Jasprit Bumrah made a career-best 28, to help India climb to 278.
Robinson finished at 5-85, while James Anderson (4-54) became the third most wicketed player in test cricket history when he fired Rahul, ahead of former India player Anil Kumble.
Rory Burns (11th) and Dom Sibley (9th) topped 11.1 on either side of the tea to lead England to 25-0, losing by 70, before the rain came and the game was finally abandoned for the day at 6: 10 pm.
Rain had stopped England’s momentum on the second day after Anderson’s double strike had helped reduce India to 125-4 and less than three overs on the third morning, bad weather again delaying proceedings by an hour more.
He then threatened to return once more in the game restart moments and Rahul’s delaying tactics, ostensibly to try and stop the game, led to words being exchanged with Anderson, the first in a series of ‘discussions’ between the teams. Throughout the day, before the rain stopped and the game was finally able to resume.
When he did, Rishabh Pant was quick to show his attacking instincts and went after Robinson, getting a limit through the offside before firing an overhead shot from Jos Buttler and watching him sail all the way for six.
Robinson was not amused, but he struck back at the next ball, his height allowing him to find a bit of extra bounce which meant Pant could only pop the ball towards Jonny Bairstow with extra short coverage while trying to drive.
Jadeja replaced his left-handed teammate and should have followed him back to the pavilion shortly after, when Rahul called him for a pointless single, Dan Lawrence lunged on the sheets but tried to drop the stumps, when he had time to find Buttler’s. gloves and failed.
It was just one of a series of very presentable burnout opportunities that went begging at the entrances and it proved costly as Rahul and Jadeja progressed well the tickets for India until lunch, and the irritation from England only added when they lost their final review. before a badly judged caught behind a shout against Rahul.
Things got worse for the locals in the first round after lunch, when Anderson found the advantage when Rahul played a sloppy shot off the stump. The ball flew towards Joe Root on the first slip, but the England captain bombarded the catch.
It was the second time Anderson had lost the first India game and he finally got his man shortly after, which attracted the drive and this time, the nick traveled safely to Buttler’s gloves.
That wicket put Anderson over Kumble and at 620 Test Match wickets and No. 621 entered his next over, Shardul Thakur on the edge and Root clinging to a good catch, low to his left.
However, Jadeja was still on the go and, with only the tail for company, it spread open, throwing a high leg stump over Anderson’s long leg for six.
The off-roader’s half-century emerged from 81 balls with a late four-point cut from Robinson, but the pitcher again responded well and caught him attempting an extra big shot, Stuart Broad with the catch midway.
England would have hoped to do some light tail work, but instead endured 10 frustrating overs on the field when Bumrah, Mohammed Shami (13) and Mohammed Siraj (7th) risked their arm and were rewarded.
Robinson castled Shami on the third delivery of the second new ball, but Root’s decision to keep Sam Curran at the other end did not pay off, as Bumrah grabbed the left arm for two-fours and six of his first three balls. .
It took an excellent catch from Broad on the thin leg to ditch Bumrah and give Robinson his first five-wicket international run, but the lower order had done its job and helped India take a big lead in the first inning, especially in a relatively high period. low scoring match.
Burns and Sibley tried hard and avoided too many scares before the heavens opened, but they and the rest of England’s leaders have a lot of work to do, weather permitting, on day four.
Watch the fourth day of the first England-India test at Trent Bridge starting at 10.15am on Saturday at Sky Sports The Hundred and Main Event.
