During the fifth Test’s opening day at the Oval, pigeons assembled at
the practice pitches that are parallel to the main square. The birds
blissfully foraged for worms and weeds. A peck here, a peck there and
all was fine with the avian world.
Yes, a match was in progress but with the action centred entirely upon
the middle, in the truest sense, as England seamers revelled, the
close-in fielders caught well and Indian batsmen perished, the prospect
of a well struck cricket ball scattering the pigeons seemed rare.
At one point, a lone pigeon inched closer to the main pitch and M.S.
Dhoni, already saddled with the onerous task of sweeping away the debris
of a batting collapse, had the delicate task of nudging an obstinate
feathered specimen away. It was the only time when an England bowler
lent a helping hand as James Anderson got the bird to move aside.
Tragically, India suffered another meagre first innings, mustering just
148. Dhoni (82, 140b, 15x4, 1x6), played a lone hand and his 58-run
tenth-wicket partnership with Ishant Sharma, who was dropped by Ian
Bell, was the only pocket of resistance. The skipper was the last man to
be dismissed.
At close, England scored 62 for no loss after Alastair Cook was lucky to survive an lbw appeal from Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
India suffered a minor scare when Ishant grimaced and limped after his
second delivery but once the landing area was sorted out, the speedster
seemed at ease but wickets remained elusive.
The day’s theme was primarily about the England fast bowlers scuttling
the Indian line-up while Dhoni stood tall. The Indian captain took some
blows on his body, unsettled the seamers’ lines and unlike the men above
him in the batting order, never got bogged down. When opportunity
arose, he drove — twice against Stuart Broad and once off Chris Woakes.
He also lofted Chris Jordan for a six.
Later, he cut and pulled while the morning horrors extended into the
second session with a watchful Stuart Binny (he replaced RavindraJadeja)
and a positive R. Ashwin succumbing to the host. Bhuvneshwar made it
worse, chasing Jordan’s wide delivery but the lower order cannot be
expected to stand up all the time and if blame has to be apportioned, a
sizeable chunk has to be laid at the top-order’s doors!
Earlier, after damp conditions delayed the start by 30 minutes, Cook
opted to field and felt vindicated as Anderson scalped Gautam Gambhir
for a duck in the first over. The opener shaped to play, realised that
there was drastic seam movement but couldn’t withdraw his bat in time.
Cheteshwar Pujara tried to stonewall but Broad darted one in and
disturbed the stumps.
At 10 for two, India was in trouble but Murali Vijay played straight and
an out-of-form Virat Kohli cover-drove Anderson. However uncertainty
wasn’t far and Kohli shouldered arms to Jordan. It seemed as though the
delivery that rapped the pad was off target but replays showed that it
was headed towards off-stump.
India shivered at 26 for three and Ajinkya Rahane joined Vijay. India’s
two century-makers on this tour were together but hopes were misplaced.
The checked-drive, which undid Rahane in previous games, surfaced again
and he tamely patted back to Jordan. Vijay edged Woakes to a juggling
Joe Root and India wobbled at 36 for five, well before lunch.
At Manchester, India had scored eight for four and 61 for five in the
initial part of its first and second innings respectively. A crumbling
top-order continues to plague Dhoni’s men and it was terrible to watch
on a gloomy Friday.submited by
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India – 1st innings: Murali Vijay c Root b Woakes 18 (64b),
Gautam Gambhir c Buttler b Anderson 0 (1b), Cheteshwar Pujara b Broad 4
(19b), Virat Kohli lbw b Jordan 6 (18b, 1x4), Ajinkya Rahane c & b
Jordan 0 (8b), M.S. Dhoni c Woakes b Broad 82 (140b, 15x4, 1x6), Stuart
Binny c Cook b Anderson 5 (30b), R. Ashwin c Root b Woakes 13 (17b,
1x4), Bhuvneshwar Kumar c Buttler b Jordan 5 (11b, 1x4), Varun Aaron c
& b Woakes 1 (17b), Ishant Sharma (not out) 7 (42b); Extras (b-6,
lb-1): 7; Total (in 61.1 overs): 148.
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Gambhir), 2-10 (Pujara), 3-26 (Kohli), 4-28
(Rahane), 5-36 (Vijay), 6-44 (Binny), 7-68 (Ashwin), 8-79
(Bhuvneshwar), 9-90 (Aaron).
England bowling: James Anderson 17-4-51-2, Stuart Broad 15.1-4-27-2, Chris Jordan 14-7-32-3, Chris Woakes 14-7-30-3, Moeen Ali 1-0-1-0.
England — 1st innings: Alastair Cook batting 24 (49b, 2x4), Sam
Robson batting 33 (65b, 5x4); Extras (b-4, w-1): 5; Total (for no loss
in 19overs): 62.
India bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 7-1-25-0, Ishant Sharma 7-2-12-0, Varun Aaron 3-0-14-0, Stuart Binny 2-0-7-0.
