Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 114 gave England to plenty to contend with and India a solid start to the second Test at Edgbaston
England have experienced another taxing first day against India as Shubman Gill’s century built firm foundations for the visitors in the second Test at Edgbaston.
Buoyed by his side’s fearless fourth-innings chase at Headingley last week, home captain Ben Stokes did not hesitate to repeat his tactics from that match – winning the toss and sending the opposition in on a good batting pitch.
The initial outcome was better this time – India reaching stumps on 5-310 compared to their seemingly bulletproof score of 3-359 at the same point in Leeds – but Stokes’ opposite number ensured India edged the day.
Gill, who made 147 in the series opener, made it two hundreds in as many games as captain with a hard-working and undefeated 114 from 216 balls.
Chris Woakes finished the day with figures of 2-59 but England may need to battle back from another difficult position after Gill’s unbeaten stand of 99 with Ravindra Jadeja.
India began by confirming they had rested star bowler Jasprit Bumrah – one of three changes to a losing team – but Stokes resisted the temptation to get stuck into an attack shorn of its most potent force.
Instead, he trusted Woakes to make things happen on a familiar surface and was rewarded with an immaculate seven-over new-ball burst. Four of his first five were maidens and the slow build of pressure eventually got too much for KL Rahul, who chopped down his stumps looking to score behind square.
India took the change of bowling as an invitation to cut loose after a watchful start, with Josh Tongue on the receiving end.
His initial six-over burst shipped 42 runs and eight boundaries, Yashashvi Jaiswal and Karun Nair both pouncing on drives as the Nottinghamshire man overpitched repeatedly.
The afternoon session was a flat affair, with 84 runs and one wicket. But England’s sole success between lunch and tea was a big one, Jaiswal falling for 87, tempted by Stokes to feed a gentle catch to wicketkeeper Jamie Smith.
India roused themselves at the start of the evening session, Gill hitting Shoaib Bashir down the ground for four. Pant took that as a green light from his skipper, tumbling to the ground after stooping to slog-sweep the spinner.
But the new-found sense of ambition came at a price. When Bashir tossed up a slow looper at just 46mph it proved to much for Pant to resist. The shot did not have enough on it and Zak Crawley galloped to his right for a smart catch at long-on.
Removing Pant for 25 after his twin centuries at Headingley represented a big step in the right direction for England and things took another positive turn when Woakes bagged another.
Nitish Kumar Reddy, recalled at No.6, made just one before offering no stroke at one that jagged back in and knocked back off stump.
