Shami removes Bairstow at stroke of tea to leave England at 138/4

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow frustrated Indian bowlers with solid Test match batting in challenging conditions before Mohammed Shami broke their 72-run stand by dismissing the latter to leave England at 138 for four at tea on day one day of the series opener here on Wednesday.Like the first session, Indian pacers beat the batsmen regularly but Root 52 batting off 91 balls and Bairstow 29 off 71 played with grit and patience to thwart their attempts.

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow frustrated Indian bowlers with solid Test match batting in challenging conditions before Mohammed Shami broke their 72-run stand by dismissing the latter to leave England at 138 for four at tea on day one day of the series opener here on Wednesday.

Like the first session, Indian pacers beat the batsmen regularly but Root (52 batting off 91 balls) and Bairstow (29 off 71) played with grit and patience to thwart their attempts. Shami was finally able to break their threatening stand by having Bairstow leg before at the stroke of tea. Shami got one to jag back in and India reviewed the umpire's decision successfully. England scored 77 runs in 25.2 overs bowled in the afternoon sessions for the loss of two wickets.

India had their tail up early on in the session when Shami had Dom Sibley caught at short mid-wicket in the third over post lunch. Shami made Sibley fall into a trap set for him with a full ball on his pads which the England opener flicked it straight to K L Rahul, leaving the hosts at 66 for three.

Bairstow joined Root in the middle and they ended up batting the rest of the session.

While the Indian pacers kept asking questions with the ball constantly moving around, Root seemed to find answers more often that not. He played with soft hands and close to his body, and was quick to latch on to the loose balls.

His nine fours included a coupe of delightful cover drives.

Bairstow also got into the act by driving Siraj past extra cover before hitting him down the ground for successive fours.

Against the run of play, India got a timely breakthrough before they went back into the dressing room. Earlier, the Indian fast bowlers were up to the task on the opening morning, reducing England to 61 for two at lunch. With the sun beating down on a packed Trent Bridge, Root opted to bat on a dry pitch with a decent covering of grass on top.

Jasprit Bumrah, who was not at his best during the World Test Championship final, was back in his element as he trapped Rory Burns in front with a sharp inswinger in the first over of the match after setting him up with three outswingers.

Bumrah bowled his heart out in his six-over spell beating the batsmen multiple times. Shami, who bowled seven overs first up, too troubled Zak Crawley (27 off 68) and Dom Sibley on a number of occasions but as it often happens with him in England, the outside edge eluded him.

The pitch had enough for the pacers in the first hour of play with the ball swinging and seaming around.

Crawley, who averages little over 10 this year, batted well before being dismissed by Siraj, who was picked ahead of Ishant Sharma.

After India wasted one review for a caught behind in the same over, Siraj finally induced an inside edge from Crawley's bat and this time skipper Virat Kohli reviewed it successfully.

With India going in with four pacers, Shardul Thakur came into the side but the one spinner picked was Ravindra Jadeja, who didn't bowl in the first session. Dropping premier spinner R Ashwin was a big call as he had been well prepared for the series opener with his preparation including a county game.

Thakur, picked for his natural ability to swing the ball besides his lower-order batting, looked in good rhythm in the five overs he bowled.

Sibley survived a close lbw shot off Bumrah at the stroke of lunch but Kohli resisted the temptation for another review and rightly so.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)