Keaton Jennings. (Image credit: Reuters) 8 December 2016
Mumbai: England ended Day 1 of the fourth Test against India at the Wankhede Stadium at 288/5 after debutant Keaton Jennings became the 19th English batsman to score a century on Test debut.
Alastair Cook called it right at the toss and decided to bat first on a pitch which at first sight did not look threatening. The visitors reaped rich rewards of Cook's decision as the captain along with debutant Jennings played some positive cricket to take the attack to the Indian bowlers.
Cook, who had asked his team to be more positive in ther approach, took the lead as he scored runs a rapid pace compared to his natural style. This allowed Jennings to settle down and soon he too was playing his shots. India did miss Mohammad Shami, who was ruled out due to a knee injury and was replaced by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the playing XI.
The duo put on a handsome 99 runs for the first wicket, before Ravindra Jadeja ended Cook's stay in the middle. The left-arm spinner tosses one up and Cook stepped out of the crease but missed the ball completely to allow Parthiv Patel to affect an easy stumping. The England captain departing after scoring 46 runs.
Joe Root was the next man in and he looked to settle down along with Jennings to guide England towards a big score.
But Ashwin got his man immediately after lunch when he lured Root into a drive and Virat Kohli completed a great reaction catch at the slips to send back the English talisman for 21. England now were in a spot of bother at 121/2.
Root's dismissal brought Moeen Ali into the middle. The two southpaws played some attractive shots to keep the scoreboard ticking. England went into tea on Day 1 at
Keaton Jennings then brought up his century, becoming only the 19th English batsman to score a ton on Test debut. Both Jennings and Ali remained unbeaten as England went into tea at 195/2, taking command of the match.
But with Ravichandran Ashwin around, no batsman can feel assured and the spin wizard struck back with vengeance in the last session of the day.
Moeen Ali looked to sweep and ended up getting a top edge, which landed straight in the hands of the Karun Nair, who was fielding at mid-wicket. Ali went backafter scoring exactly 50 runs, leaving England at 230/3.
He then gave England a big shock by removing the well set Jennings for 112, getting him caught at a wide gully position where Pujara took a good low catch, as England suddenly slumped to 230/4.
Suddenly Ashwin was a different bowler as the pitch too started taking heavy turn with the batsmen scratching around to stay safe. He dealt another blow to England by removing the in-form Jonny Bairstow for just 14.
Ben Stokes dropped anchor thereafter while Jos Buttler played some attractive shots to take the visitors to 288/5 at stumps.
Ravichandran Ashwin ended the day with figures of 4/75 from 30 overs.
Stokes was unbeaten on 25, while Buttler was not out on 18. The visitors will be happy that they have the runs on the board on what now looks like a difficult pitch to bat on.
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