England rebuild after India dismiss Cook
BIRMINGHAM: England overcame the early loss of Alastair Cook to be 83 for one at lunch on the first day of the First Test against India at Edgbaston yesterday.
Keaton Jennings was 38 not out and England captain Joe Root, who won the toss, 31 not out in what is the hosts’ 1,000th Test match.
The pair had so far added an unbroken 57 in 115 balls for the second wicket.
Offspinner
Ravichandran Ashwin, b ro u gh t on as early as the s eventh over by India captain Virat
Kohli, struck with his 11th delivery.
From round the wicket, he bowled left-hander Cook — England’s all-time leading Test runscorer — for 13 with an excellent ball that pitched on middle and hit the top of off stump.
Just prior to Cook’s dismissal, fellow left-hander Jennings was dropped on nine off the bowling of Ishant Sharma when Ajinkya Rahane, diving across from fourth slip, failed to hold a tough chance.
Root, who has made 10 Test fifties since he last scored a century at this level, then took advantage of several deliveries bowled on his pads or well wide of off stump.
At lunch, the England skipper had struck four fours in 63 balls faced, with Jennings also hitting four boundaries.
Root was fortunate when he edged the final delivery before lunch, from all-rounder Hardik Pandya, onto his pads only for the ball to trickle past his leg stump.
Mohammad Shami, surprisingly denied the new ball by Kohli, did trouble both of England’s second-wicket duo outside their respective off-stumps without taking a wicket in the opening session of this five-match series.