England on top after interesting day
England enjoyed a fruitful opening day of the third Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, reducing India to 273 for seven at stumps, which would have been even less impressive had Sachin Tendulkar not made a battling 76.
England enjoyed a fruitful opening day of the third Test at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, reducing India to 273 for seven at stumps, which would have been even less impressive had Sachin Tendulkar not made a battling 76.
The Little Master used 155 deliveries in his innings and never looked truly set, but there were flashes of his brilliance interspersed between the edges and he dragged the score to a decent position before falling to the excellent James Anderson.
The England paceman was the pick of the bowlers, taking three wickets for 68 and hardly ever strayed from his line. He also got good swing, both regular and reverse, and made life tricky on an otherwise decent batting wicket.
At the start of the day, England captain Alastair Cook's dire run of losing tosses continued, as India skipper MS Dhoni elected to bat first. Cook has yet to win a toss in five attempts as captain, and said he would also have chosen to bat first.
The Eden Gardens wicket, which had been touted as 'fast and bouncy' was, in fact, slow, cracked and good to bat on in the morning. The India openers had an easy time of it until a silly run out, and Gautam Gambhir reached the lunch break with a half century.
Gambhir and Virender Sehwag easily dealt with the newly fit Steve Finn early one, and went at four to the over until Sehwag went out with the score on 45. He failed to pay attention to his partner while running for a third and didn't notice that Gambhir had stopped, thus he was forced to turn back and was out by a country mile.
Gambhir then went on for the rest of the morning alongside Cheteshwar Pujara, who again looked calm and assured, until he was bowled by Monty Panesar just before the break. The spinner sent down a ripper arm ball that clattered into Pujara's stumps with the score on 88.
Tendulkar was in the middle with Gambhir at lunch, having scored just a single, while the opener had 50 off 91 balls. The opener and the veteran endured a torrid time for the first 10 overs after the break, as England's bowlers dominated.
Panesar was particularly superb, keeping the line tight and not allowing much room for shots to be played. He induced the edge a number of times, and the fact that Tendulkar was still in the middle at tea was a small miracle.
Gambhir only added 10 runs to his score in the afternoon, before falling to Panesar. The spinner pitched it in the rough and it spun away from the left hander, and he nicked it solidly to Jonathan Trott in the slips, who held on well.
Tendulkar then batted with Virat Kohli for seven overs, but the young batsman's poor series continued and he could only make six runs before walking back to the hut. Anderson remained the only England paceman to take a wicket in the series when he got Kohli to edge it to Graeme Swann at slip.
Yuvraj Singh then came to join Tendulkar, and they battled to tea, resisting as England used reverse swing to good effect thanks to the rough wicket that scuffed the ball up well. Yuvraj was on 14, having survived a few fortuitous nicks himself.
India lost three more wickets in the evening session, as Tendulkar and Yuvraj finally found their feet together just to be sent packing. Yuvraj tamely popped a Swann delivery straight to Cook in the covers for 32, while Sachin was caught behind by Matt Prior.
Ravi Ashwin was the final wicket to fall on the day, an over before the close, as Anderson used the new ball perfectly and sent the ball clattering into Ashwin's stumps for 21. Come day two, Zaheer Khan and Dhoni will need to properly utilise the flat-ish track before it deteriorates.
India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma
England: Alastair Cook, Nick Compton, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Samit Patel, Matt Prior, Graeme Swann, Monty Panesar, James Anderson, Steve Finn
Latest
-
News
England Women wrap up 4-1 series victory in New Zealand
Heather Knight top-scored with 35 in England’s chase of 137.
-
England
England will not adopt negative approach after humbling in India – Zak Crawley
England will aim to get ‘Bazball’ back on track this summer against West Indies and Pakistan.
-
Australia
On this day in 2018: Australian trio banned after ball-tampering saga
The trio were handed their punishments on March 28, 2018.
-
County Cricket
Surrey stars eager to help Alec Stewart sign off with more silverware
Stewart has guided Surrey to three County Championship wins during his decade in charge.
-
Women's Cricket
Maia Bouchier smashes 91 as England Women seal T20 series victory
England made 177 for three and then restricted New Zealand to 130 for seven.
-
County Cricket
Yorkshire boosted by Harry Brook and Joe Root’s early-season availability
Both players are not at the Indian Premier League.
-
England
Ollie Pope ‘itching’ to get back scoring runs after ‘frustrating’ tour of India
The England vice-captain hit a superb 196 in Hyderabad, but averaged only 14.75 in the next four Tests of the India series.
-
Women's Cricket
Ellyse Perry says Ashes Test at MCG ‘amazing’ but unsure about four-day return
Australia will host England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the Women’s Ashes early next year.
-
County Cricket
Harry Brook set to return for start of Yorkshire’s County Championship campaign
Brook withdrew from England’s Test tour of India in January due to personal reasons.
-
England
England spinner Tom Hartley expects his exploits in India to be ‘life changing’
Hartley’s second-innings haul of seven for 62 in Hyderabad delivered one England’s greatest ever overseas victories.