Dharamshala, March 7 Captain Rohit Sharma & Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed half-centuries to put India in a commanding position at stumps on day one of fifth and final Test against England at the HPCA Stadium on Thursday.
The foundation for India’s dominating day was set up by Kuldeep Yadav’s sensational 5-72 and Ravichandran Ashwin taking 4-51 in his 100th Test match to bamboozle England for 218 in 57.4 overs. In reply, Jaiswal’s 57 and Rohit’s 52 not out took India to 135/1 in 30 overs and now trail England by 83 runs.
Post tea, Ashwin got his third wicket as Ben Foakes' attempted sweep resulted in him rolling back onto his stumps. James Anderson survived an lbw appeal, but in a bid to slog against Ashwin, he mistimed it to mid-wicket, bringing an end to an England innings which didn’t even last 60 overs.
In reply, while Jaiswal was measured at the start, Rohit became the aggressor with four boundaries in the first six overs, with a hoick over fine leg for six off Mark Wood being the standout. Jasiwal got into attacking mode by smacking three sixes – on both sides of ‘V’ and cover - in first over of Shoaib Bashir.
Rohit clipped Tom Hartley twice for fours, before pulling the spinner for six, even as Jaiswal used his wrists and power to take five boundaries off Bashir, with the fourth one giving him his fifty and also became the quickest Indian to reach 1000 Test runs. But Jaiswal fell for 57 after coming out to go big against Bashir, and was stumped easily.
Shubman Gill timed his pick-up pull and slog-sweep really well, even as Rohit got his fifty in 77 balls. Gill ended the day by slog-sweeping against Bashir and Hartley for a six each as India got a perfect day of Test cricket action after losing the toss.
Brief Scores: England 218 in 57.4 overs (Zak Crawley 79; Kuldeep Yadav 5-72, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-51) lead India 135/1 in 30 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 57, Rohit Sharma 52 not out; Shoaib Bashir 1-64) by 82 runs
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