Gill ton, Jaiswal 87 headline India's productive opening day

A fine century under pressure from skipper Shubman Gill, aided by a solid 87 from Yashasvi Jaiswal, helped India consolidate to 310/5 on Day 1 of the second Test at Edgbaston on Wednesday (July 2).

In overcast conditions at toss, unchanged England had no hesitation in opting to bowl whereas India made three changes and some key position swaps in their XI from Leeds in their quest for greater batting depth that was tested on the opening day itself. Gill, however, led from the front with a responsible knock of 114 not out, putting on a vital unbroken partnership of 99 with Ravindra Jadeja (41*) to arrest a mini-slide in the evening and go to stumps without further damage.

Jaiswal's bright knock laid the platform in a morning session of two halves after India lost KL Rahul early. England's new-ball bowlers, especially Chris Woakes, got the ball to nip and there was some extra bounce early in the session but the hosts had only one wicket to show for it. In the middle of a probing, and frugal, spell, Woakes found himself at the receiving end of two turned-down LBW appeals and both were referred upstairs only for the batters to survive on umpire's call.

First was Jaiswal who got forward to defend a good length delivery that nipped in, but the ball tracking found it to be barely clipping the top of the stumps. Soon after, off a similar delivery, Woakes was convinced after hitting Karun Nair on the back pad as the batter offered no shot. But the bowler was left fuming once again to not have the on-field call in his favour when the ball-tracking reprieved the batter by the slimmest of margins.

In between those two close calls, Woakes did earn his reward for disciplined bowling and thoroughly testing KL Rahul on both edges. The Indian opener, tentative throughout his stay in the middle, eventually chopped one back onto his stumps to fall for just two.

Once Woakes had gone off, India's second-wicket pair found frequent ways to release the built-up pressure with their partnership of 80. Nair quickly moved on from his LBW call with the help of a few half-volleys dished out to him by Josh Tongue that he happily drove through the covers. That sublime touch rubbed off on Jaiswal too at the other end as the opener grew in confidence in the second hour and cashed in on the wayward bowling by the pacer to put on display an array of drives.

England quickly resorted to the short-ball ploy, and Jaiswal took on Tongue with hooks and pulls to fetch three boundaries on the trot in an over, completing his 11th Test half-century with the second of those. Nair, however, wasn't lucky enough to survive it. Six minutes before Lunch, Brydon Carse got one to jump at him and take him by surprise. As India's new No. 3 Nair put his bat up to fend it, he sent a dolly to second slip where Harry Brook made no mistake.

Gill joined hands with a well-set Jaiswal to consolidate, and they did well to keep the English attack at bay for over an hour on the other side of Lunch. The bowlers' discipline and a spread-out field did cut down on the number of boundaries though for India. The hosts brought back Woakes and Carse in tandem once again, and even though the scoring rate remained low, the conditions had eased out for batting. While Gill remained cautious, Jaiswal didn't spare any occasional wayward freebies England dished out.

The Carse vs Gill battle heated up when the Indian captain pulled out ahead of a delivery mid-over, and culminated into a passionate LBW call that the hosts took upstairs, only to realise the inside edge had saved the batter. In the following over, Woakes decided against referring an appeal and rightly so, for there was a faint inside edge once more to Gill's rescue.

Still wicketless after an hour's toil in the mid session, Stokes reintroduced himself into the attack and got England the breakthrough they'd grown desperate for. Completely against the run of play, Jaiswal slashed at a short and wide delivery and ended up bottom-edging it behind to miss out on what would have been a well-deserved fourth Test hundred against England.

Rishabh Pant, quite characteristically, went after the spinner Shoaib Bashir for a six over long-on when the opportunity presented itself just before Tea, but had otherwise remained mindful of the opposition as he took India to Tea at 182/3 alongside his captain.

But, it was this very tendency to take on the spinners that paved the way for a breakthrough for England in the final session. Bashir flighted one generously to bait Pant, who bit it and holed out to long-on where Zak Crawley took a well-judged catch to his right. In the next over, India lost Nitish Reddy who they promoted ahead of the experienced Jadeja. The allrounder, coming into the XI for Shardul Thakur, left a delivery from Woakes that jagged back in to disturb his off-stump.

Gill, who had earlier completed his half-century by tonking Bashir straight over his head, continued to remain solid amidst the fall of wickets around him. He found an able ally in Jadeja as the two dug in to pull India out of a hole that was the mini-collapse to kick off the session. Gill marched to his hundred - his second in as many Tests since taking over captaincy full-time - with the second of the back-to-back fours off part-timer Joe Root, and let out a loud roar in celebration.

Capping off a successful-yet-frustrating day for Wokaes was a lucky reprieve for Jadeja, who saw a thick outside-edge evade both the second slip and the gully to run into the ropes. The second new ball did challenge the two batters, but also brought scoring opportunities for the well-settled duo who took India past the 300-run mark comfortably before stumps were drawn on an absorbing day of Test cricket.

Brief scores: India 310/5 (Shubman Gill 114*, Yashasvi Jaiswal 87, Ravindra Jadeja 41*; Chris Woakes 2-59) vs England.