England took four quick wickets with James Anderson starring as the hosts forced their way back into the game on the rain-affected second day of the Trent Bridge Test.
When India started day two of the first Test against England at Trent Bridge, they were in a solid position after having bowled the hosts out for 183 and being wicketless for 21 runs. However, a small passage of play swung the match right in balance on a day where rain played a massive spoilsport.
Indian openers did an incredible job at the top of the order to put the visitors in a commanding position. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul showed outstanding restraint and defensive technique to blunt the English bowling attack in the first hour of play on day two. The duo respected the good balls and put the bad ones away with pure class. They put on the highest opening stand for India outside Asia since 2007, which incidentally was at Trent Bridge too.
Rahul and Rohit played out 37 overs and added 97 runs for the first wicket. But as often has been the case with Rohit in overseas Tests since started opening, he gave his wicket away after doing all the hard work. He played 107 deliveries to score 36 runs but fell to his instincts. The opener tried to pull a bouncer from Ollie Robinson, but it got big on him, and ended up holing out to backward square leg on the stroke of lunch.
The Rohit dismissal acted as a massive opening for England, and Jimmy Anderson was up to the task. Soon after lunch, England’s greatest bowler stepped up and India had no answers. First, it was Cheteshwar Pujara, who just happens to get a peach of a delivery every time he gets out. Anderson bowled a perfect delivery which looked like an inswinger but seamed away after pitching. Pujara (25) nicked it while trying to defend and Buttler took a low diving catch to hand India a second blow.
It was time for the battle of the maestros. Virat Kohli vs James Anderson. The Trent Bridge atmosphere was absolutely buzzing. Anderson bowled a similar delivery that swung in but straightened after pitching, but this time the line was slightly outside off stump. It is said that Kohli likes to get the feel of the ball on the bat early in his innings. He stretched out to defend but ended up edging it to the keeper. Buttler took a comfortable catch as the Trent Bridge went absolutely berserk with Kohli walking back on a golden duck. The long wait of Anderson finally ended as he managed to dismiss Kohli for the first time since 2014.
With three quick wickets, the visitors had found themselves in a worrying spot, and all the eyes were on Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane. Rahul, who was playing his first Test since 2018, brought up his half-century extremely well-made.
India’s vice-captain, on the other hand, had a chaotic outing in the middle. Rahane, trying to take a quick single, survived as the fielder missed a direct hit. In the very next over, Rahul defended a delivery to the right side of backward point and took an initial step before yelling out a big No, but Rahane was well out of his crease. He tried to get back but fell well short to Jonny Bairstow’s quick direct hit, leaving India at 112/4.
India’s young superstar Rishabh Pant walked in with huge expectations. Pant, being a madman, tried to smash Anderson on the fourth delivery he faced but managed to clear the infield to open his wicket with a triple. Two balls later, Anderson found the edge of Rahul’s bat only to see Dom Sibley spill it in slips. The next over was fruitful for India as both the batters hit a boundary each to Stuart Broad, who had an awful day.
Anderson continued his spell from the other end, but one delivery later, the umpires decided to stop the play due to bad light with rain incoming. The rest of the day was frustrating as the Trent Bridge saw ‘start and stop’ twice, in which only three deliveries were bowled. With the game sitting right in balance, we will hope for better weather in the coming days.
Brief Scores
England – 183 in 65.4 overs (Root 64, Bairstow 29; Bumrah 4/46, Shami 3/28)
India – 125/4 in 46.4 overs (Rahul 57*, Rohit 36; Anderson 2/15, Robinson 1/32) trail by 58 runs.
