india vs England

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 web design company

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.