UPDATE 2-Cricket-Indian pace attack rattle England in fourth test

England had struggled to 139 for six at tea on the first day of the fourth test after India's pace attack proved too good for their top order at the Ageas Bowl.

Moeen Ali (30) and Sam Curran (27) provided some much needed stability after England had slumped to 86 for six but they will need to bat deep into the evening session if the tourists are to be made to work for a first innings lead.

England captain Joe Root won the toss and elected to bat in glorious sunshine and with a track that looked nicely prepared for batting.

England lead the five-test series 2-1 but was outplayed in the third test at Trent Bridge and once again on Thursday the tourists' bowling attack combined aggression, movement, and consistency as they removed the top order cheaply.

Jasprit Bumrah continued where he left off at Trent Bridge, getting the early breakthrough in the third over with an unexpected delivery bamboozling Keaton Jennings.

Bumrah produced rare inswing to the left-hander which struck Jennings, who had opted to leave the ball, on the pads and the England opener was removed without scoring.

Root was also trapped lbw by Ishant Sharma with a full-length ball which moved in late.

England's gamble to include Jonny Bairstow as a specialist batsman even though the regular wicketkeeper is nursing a fractured finger on his left hand also backfired.

Batting on six, Bairstow edged another fine delivery from Bumrah to keeper Rishabh Pant as England floundered on 28 for three.

Alastair Cook made 17 before an attempted late cut off Hardik Pandya flew to skipper Virat Kohli who pocketed the chance at third slip. His 55-ball knock included three boundaries.

The only blemish in an otherwise perfect session from India came when Jos Buttler was dropped on 11 when he edged the ball to offer a low catch to Pant off Mohammed Shami.

Shami did get Buttler (21) after lunch, however, Kohli snapping up a catch at third slip and the Indian paceman removed the dangerous Stokes (23) lbw.

India had named an unchanged team while for England, batsman Ollie Pope was left out and seamer Chris Woakes was missing with a thigh injury.

Bairstow's finger injury meant he was ruled out of wicketkeeping duties for the fourth test. Buttler will take over behind the stumps.

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