England vs India, 5th Test: Ton-up Pant and Jadeja shine
India rallied back from a position of bother on Day 1 of the rescheduled fifth Test versus England at Edgbaston. Asked to bat, India were reduced to 98/5 in the 28th over. James Anderson and Matthew Potts did the damage. However, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja settled India's nerves by adding 200-plus runs. Pant fell for 146 as India posted 338/7 at stumps.
India got off to a positive start before Shubman Gill played a poor shot to gift his wicket away. Cheteshwar Pujara looked solid before perishing for 13. Hanuma Vihari got a start but was dismissed for 20. Virat Kohli (11) and Shreyas Iyer (15) departed cheaply. Thereafter, Pant and Jadeja played a positive brand of cricket to get India back into the game.
Anderson gave England the first wicket as Gill showed no intent in poking at a ball which could have been left alone. Anderson's probing length saw Pujara nick one to the slips. Despite no swing available, Anderson was smart to gain seam movement. And then, the veteran pacer got Iyer with a ball going down the leg side. Extra pace and bounce worked.
Credit should go to Matthew Potts for continuing the good work he showed in the series versus New Zealand. He got the ball to seam off the pitch and had Vihari play the wrong line to be struck LBW. He got the big fish - Kohli - who was unsure regarding his shot-making. However, he proved to be costly.
Pant brought up his century after having faced just 89 balls. As per Cricbuzz, Pant is the first Indian keeper to slam four Test centuries outside Asia. The other keepers to slam a century outside Asia are Vijay Manjrekar, Ajay Ratra, and Wriddhiman Saha (1 each). Pant has become the fourth Indian keeper to slams two Test 100s in a calendar year.
Pant and Jadeja were terrific in a mammoth stand of 222 runs. They helped India recover in a steady rate, maintaining a healthy run-rate. Rather than going on the defensive route, they chose to be positive. Jadeja played a superb supporting act, bringing his half-century in 109 balls. The two helped India get past the 300-run mark. Pant scored 146 from 111 balls.
Pant has now become the third-fastest Indian to slam a century outside Asia. The record is held by Virender Sehwag (78 balls) versus WI in Gros Islet, 2006. M Azharuddin scored his century in 88 balls versus England at Lord's in 1990.
Jack Leach was ordinary and lacked ideas with Pant going the aggressive route. The left-arm spinner conceded over seven runs per over. Pant dispatched him 21 runs in his ninth over (22 in total) as well. Meanwhile, England skipper Ben Stokes was poor as well, bowling plenty of no-balls. However, he got one wicket, dismssing Shardul Thakur. Stuart Broad toiled hard but remained wicketless.
