India Tears Through England on Day One of First Test

India finishes firmly on top with the exceptional performance of bowlers during day one of the first test in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), with Jasprit Bumrah leading the charge with four wickets.

England skipper Joe Root elected to bat first after winning the toss. However, his decision made India took up the challenge with glee.

Spearheaded by Bumrah (4/46) and Mohammad Shami (3/28), the tourists bowled England out for 183 and reached stumps at 21/0, primed to take control of the match. Opting to leave the in-form Ravichandran Ashwin out of the attack to make room for an extra seamer, India’s quartet of quicks – Shardul Thakur (2/41) and Mohammad Siraj (1/48) being the others – collected all 10 wickets as England were bowled out in 65.4 overs.

India finished day one at 21/0, with Rohit Sharma (9*) and KL Rahul (9*) at the crease.

WTC23 Begins At last

England underperformed at the start as Bumrah took the first wicket of Rory Burns (0).

Zak Crawley joined Dom Sibley. Both played patiently, defending the good deliveries while punishing the bad ones.

Indian bowlers also performed extraordinarily with the challenging spells from Bumrah and Shami.

The stand finally broke when Shiraj knocked out Crawley for 27. The dismissal brought Root to the crease. He hit three consecutive boundaries off Siraj. Before the lunch break, England was 61/2.

Lunch in Nottingham 🍲

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A riveting first session of the series comes to an end with England losing two wickets. #ENGvIND | #WTC23 | https://t.co/HOyTN1o5ml pic.twitter.com/vgWhfZCYF1

— ICC (@ICC) August 4, 2021

India started off well in the second session when Shami knocked out Sibley for 18. Jonny Bairstow joined Root. Both stood firmly with a 72-run partnership. Root brought up his 50th test fifty. Just before the tea break, Sjhami struck Bairstow for 29. The session ended with England scoring 138 for the loss of 4 wickets.

Joe Root brings up his 50th Test fifty 💥#ENGvIND | #WTC23 | https://t.co/HOyTN16tXL pic.twitter.com/DvKphp4FAV

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— ICC (@ICC) August 4, 2021

England’s woes began with Bairstow’s dismissal, with Shami striking again shortly after tea, dismissing the replacement batsman, Dan Lawrence, for a duck. Jos Buttler faced 16 balls on zero before edging Bumrah behind on the 17th over with Shami and Bumrah turning the screws.

Three overs later, India secured the crucial wicket, with Thakur catching Joe Root in front for 64 with the first delivery of a new stint. Three balls later, Thakur was celebrating again after catching Ollie Robinson (0) at mid-on. England had dropped from 138/3 to 160/9 when Bumrah dismissed Stuart Broad lbw for four.

Sam Curran (27*) managed to add a further 23 runs to the scoreboard with James Anderson (1) before the latter had his stumps clattered by a brilliant Bumrah yorker to end England’s innings.

Sharma and Rahul dug in through a testing final hour to wrap up the day and ensure it was an advantage for India at stumps.

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