Curran joy at four-wicket haul tempered by ‘eye-opening’ batting masterclass

Virat Kohli’s brilliant century was an “eye-opener” to Sam Curran on the day the young England left-armer proved he too has the ability to be a match-winner in Test cricket.

Curran (four for 74) took three wickets in eight balls at one stage, but Kohli’s crucially was not among them as the India captain instead hit 149 to drag India right back into contention in the first Specsavers Test at Edgbaston.

England’s 20-year-old seamer understandably had mixed feelings in just his second Test.

“Credit to a great innings there,” he said. “That’s what Test cricket is about, you play against the best players.

“I’m only in my second game, but I think it was a little eye-opener for me, watching the way he bats and how precise you’ve got to be with your lengths [to him].”

As for his own performance, Curran,pictured,said: “Personally, it was a pretty special day for me with the ball.

“Coming on and taking a few early wickets, I can’t really remember it, it was so unreal. Obviously, it’s massive for me. In my first Test a couple of months ago against Pakistan, I was probably a little bit nervous.

“To get some wickets here, I felt like I was running in at The Oval for Surrey – I forgot about what I’m actually doing, and just stuck to what I’m good at.”

Kohli did not attend the post-match press conference, leaving India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar to illustrate his achievement instead.

“His innings has narrowed the gap massively between the two teams,” said Bangar.

“At one stage we were staring down the barrel, and the gap was huge, but because of his brilliance and the commitment shown by the batsmen around him, it’s still even.”