Following his century at Headingley, Shubman Gill becomes the first Indian batter to score 100 runs on the opening day of a Test in England on two separate instances (13th Indian overall). Before this series, he had never before scored a century in the first innings/first day of a Test.
The second new ball did challenge the edges, but runs came at a brisk pace as well, helping the visitors get past the 300-mark. England will fancy their chances with the new ball, but India will have to be wary in the first hour and would hope for one of Gill or Jadeja to go really big if they are to inch closer to the 450-mark. Should be an exciting day of Test cricket, the weather looks perfect for cricket too. Do join us for all the fun from Edgbaston tomorrow. Cheers!!
Jaiswal looked all set to claim a well-deserved century and also engineered a crucial 66-run stand with skipper Gill for the third wicket. Perhaps due to a lack of strike (faced just 10 balls off the 6 overs before his departure) or loss in concentration at one stage, Jaiswal played a wild cut against Stokes and ended up offering a regulation catch to the keeper on 87. And when Pant joined Gill in the middle, the duo batted with great maturity until the former ran out of patience. He tried to take on Bashir and fell for the trap, holing out to long-on for 25. In the following over, Nitish shouldered arms against Woakes, only to find his stumps rattled. And then it needed the experience of Jadeja and the supremacy of Gill to avoid further damage before stumps. Gill, in particular, was very impressive with his strokeplay. For a major part of his innings, he batted outside the crease to negate the moving ball and also took calculated risks against Bashir to keep the scorecard ticking, scripting his 7th Test ton while at it.
18:33 Local Time, 17:33 GMT, 23:03 IST: India did exceedingly well to arrest what looked like a mini-collapse at the start of the final session, but England will be the happier side at stumps. Opting to bowl, Woakes bowled one of his best new-ball spells (in terms of control) and picked up the prized scalp of KL Rahul as he bowled 4 maidens off his first 5 overs. Jaiswal and Karun Nair then reversed the pressure back on the hosts with a flurry of boundaries. However, with minutes left to lunch, Carse got rid of the latter with a short ball and neutralized what appeared like a solid opening session for India.
Woakes to Gill, 1 run, length and on off, Gill gets forward to defend, the thick inner half of the bat is found and it runs away to deep backward square-leg. That will be stumps on day 1. Off walk Gill and Jadeja in with the former raising his bat and acknowledging a standing ovation
Woakes to Gill, no run, full on middle, Gill gets forward to defend, it runs off the thick outer half of the bat to cover
Woakes to Jadeja, 1 run, good length on middle, Jadeja turns to the square-leg area for one
Woakes to Jadeja, no run, good length on off, Jadeja gets right behind the line to defend
Woakes to Jadeja, no run, late inswing and the thick inside-edge hits the front pad and rolls to cover, Jadeja wants a run. Gill isn't going anywhere, sent back
Two staggered slips and a gully.
Woakes to Jadeja, no run, short of length and angling into off, Jadeja goes on the back foot and turns it to short mid-wicket
Will we get one more over in? Looks like it. Woakes to bowl.
Brydon Carse to Jadeja, 1 run, short of length on off, Jadeja turns it softly to the vacant short mid-wicket area for one
Brydon Carse to Gill, 1 run, short of length on middle, Gill tucks it to the vacant mid-wicket area
Gill is asking a chap in the crowd to sit down. That's why a small delay.
Brydon Carse to Gill, no run, wide of the crease and full outside off, nips back in a tad, Gill with a good leave
Brydon Carse to Gill, no run, full outside off, Gill gets forward to defend solidly to mid-on
Brydon Carse to Gill, no run, short of length on off, Gill gets right behind the line to defend to mid-on
Brydon Carse to Gill, 2 runs, Pope at sweeper cover with a long chase and he fumbles, but he recovers quickly and well, to prevent the four. A short of length delivery outside off, Gill cuts and it's into the gap, Pope nearly concedes four
Woakes to Jadeja, no run, good length and sliding down leg, Jadeja flicks and misses, Jamie Smith dives to his right to stop it