Indian pacers get rid of top order batsmen early : IND vs ENG, 4th Test, The Oval

India was rolled out for 191 in 61 overs in the third session. The merry batting of Shardul took India to some sort of respectability. Rohit and Rahul got starts but were nipped out pretty early, so was Pujara. Kohli was at his fluent best and got a half-century, but Robinson’s pearler did him in. Rahane and Jadeja battled hard without making any impact. Pant’s indecisiveness and his inability to gauge the conditions cost him and India’s tail remained poor. In between Shardul played his shots with a lot of freedom, had the Englishmen worried, profited from some poor catching, and finished as the top-scorer with 57. 

England’s Inning Begins

Bumrah looked on target right from his first over. He bowled tightly and kept troubling the English batsmen in his first over. The results of his tight bowling came in the second over. He bowled out Burns. The delivery hit on back of a length and skidded. Burns tried to defend it on the back foot and ended up playing it onto the stumps. Bumrah gave a death stare that said loudly, “I am coming after you all.”

Second wicket of the same over

Bumrah bowled a short ball outside off to Hameed, who looked to ride the bounce with a flash and got a thick outside edge. Pant took a sharp catch to his right and both the English openers were back in the pavilion in the third over of the inning itself. Bumrah is now only one wicket away from completing 100 wickets in test cricket. If he continues bowling in this way, he’ll soon bag his 100th scalp as well. 

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Umesh gets the Big Fish

In the 15th over, Umesh Yadav got rid of the man in form, the chief tormentor of India in the series – Joe Root. Umesh bowled a back of a length around off and it came in with the angle to breach Root’s defense. Hit the top of off-stump and Umesh was pumped up as he jumped and punched the air in euphoria. That wicket will make all the bowlers charge in a lot harder. 

Review of Day 1

 After the completion of day 1, things are pretty even. Having won the toss, the hosts dominated the first two sessions of the day in helpful bowling conditions, but India bounced back in the final session. Shardul Thakur led the fightback with his counterattacking fifty to uplift the dressing room and had Thakur not played that knock, things could have been a lot different because the top order struggled to get going. Kohli played a handy knock, but he departed for a fifty as Robinson got him once again. Meanwhile, Woakes was the pick of the English bowlers as he claimed four wickets.