Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane were a big reason as to why India had a rare good day with the bat in this series. (Source: AP)
India enjoyed a rare good day with the bat on Saturday. On Day 1 of the third Test between against England at Trent Bridge, India put up 307/6 runs and most of those came from a 159-run partnership between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane. The tourists were 82/3 when the latter came in to bat. By the time he was dismissed, India had 241 runs on the board.
Virat Kohli later missed out on a 23rd Test century by three runs. Kohli and Hardik Pandya had managed to add 35 runs to the score and Kohli was steadily moving towards the three-figure mark when a rare lapse in concentration led to him nicking to Ben Stokes at slips. Adil Rashid, thus far had little luck in the series, was the man who took his wicket.
Kohli and Rahane both took their time to adjust to the pitch. The latter got increasingly adventurous after crossing his half-century and was looking anything but the self-doubting figure he had cut in previous innings this series. With the new ball looming, the two batsmen were looking to cash in on the situation but Rahane was dismissed by a brilliant reflex catch by Alastair Cook off Stuart Broad. Kohli flashed his bat on a delivery veering outside off and ended up nicking it to Stokes. It was a loose shot but that only brought to an end yet another towering performance by the Indian captain.
Debutant Rishabh Pant played a runless cover drive off the first ball he faced and followed it up by dancing down the track to hit a six over the bowler’s head. He became the first Indian batsman to score his first Test runs off a six. Pandya’s dismissal was the last act of the day. He nicked a James Anderson delivery to Jos Buttler in the slip cordon. That was Anderson’s first wicket of the match. Broad also ended the day with as many while Chris Woakes took the wickets of the Indian top three. Rashid’s lone wicket was that of Kohli.
Stay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.
3 min read
