Vijay's 122* puts the visitors in commanding position
India were 259/4 at the end of day one of the 1st Test at Nottingham. Vijay scored his maiden overseas hundred and put India ahead on a lifeless pitch. India was put in the backfoot after losing Dhawan early but came back after Vijay and Pujara put up good partnership for the 2nd wicket. India were again dominated by England after loss of two quick wickets of Pujara and Kholi early in the 2nd session. India bounced back and didn't lose another wicket till end of 2nd session. India lost Rahane early in the 3rd session after which the Indian skipper and Vijay put up an unbeaten stand of 81 for the 5th wicket ending India's good start to the 1st Test.
India took a gamble and picked debutant Stuart Binny in place of Rohit Sharma to give them an extra bowler whereas England brought in Ben Stokes in place of Jordan. Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat on a dead pitch. Vijay got off to a good start scoring three boundaries in the first over of the match, out of which two came off the edge and the third one clipped off his pads. Vijay played calmly in the first session and started playing flawless drives covers and mid on region. India lost Dhawan early after a brilliant take by Prior. Anderson got his 50th Test wicket at Trent Bridge when the ball clipped the outside edge of Dhawan's bat and was caught by Prior who took the catch one handedly diving to his left. India recovered from the early loss thanks to good innings by Vijay and Pujara. The pair put together 73 runs before lunch and took India to 106 at loss of 1 wicket at lunch. Pujara looked fluent with his shots while Vijay played cautiously and got to his fifty. India scored at rather slow pace in the first session after a quick start. India dominated the first session after the early loss and went to lunch with a good score on the board.
India's progress was derailed by Anderson and Broad who picked up the key wickets of Pujara and Kohli early in the 2nd session. First, Pujara was dismissed on 38 by Anderson and in the next over Broad got the wicket of Kohli and pushed India to the backfoot once again. Pujara chipped Anderson's delivery and Bell who was placed at silly mid-on took a beautiful one-handed catch diving to his right. In the next over Kohli was troubled by beautiful delivery by Broad which straightened after pitching and clipped the shoulder of the bat and finds Ian Bell in the second slip. India once again had to build a partnership and did so thanks to Rahane and Vijay. India scored slowly in the first hour of the second session, getting only 18 runs in 14 overs. Vijay and Rahane calmly played the rest of the session and put up an unbroken partnership of 70 runs. India added 71 runs in the session and lost 2 key wickets. At tea India was 177/3 with Vijay being unbeaten on 92 and Rahane on 32.
Rahane got dismissed in the first over after tea without adding any more to his score of 32. It was Plunkett who provided the breakthrough this time with a short ball which hits the toe of Rahane's bat straight to Cook who was at silly point. Vijay maintained his cool and got to his fourth Test century after staying on 99 for 13 balls. Vijay and Dhoni continued to pile up the runs and an attacking 50 by the skipper really troubled the English seamers. Vijay and Dhoni shared an unbroken partnership of 81 for the 5th wicket after the early wicket of Rahane. Vijay batted throughout the day and was unbeaten on 122 while his skipper managed to score his fifty in the last over of the day. At the end of day 1 India managed to put 259 runs on the board at the loss of 4 wickets. Dhoni and Vijay were settled and would most likely put up a big 1st innings total on the next day.
India took a gamble and picked debutant Stuart Binny in place of Rohit Sharma to give them an extra bowler whereas England brought in Ben Stokes in place of Jordan. Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat on a dead pitch. Vijay got off to a good start scoring three boundaries in the first over of the match, out of which two came off the edge and the third one clipped off his pads. Vijay played calmly in the first session and started playing flawless drives covers and mid on region. India lost Dhawan early after a brilliant take by Prior. Anderson got his 50th Test wicket at Trent Bridge when the ball clipped the outside edge of Dhawan's bat and was caught by Prior who took the catch one handedly diving to his left. India recovered from the early loss thanks to good innings by Vijay and Pujara. The pair put together 73 runs before lunch and took India to 106 at loss of 1 wicket at lunch. Pujara looked fluent with his shots while Vijay played cautiously and got to his fifty. India scored at rather slow pace in the first session after a quick start. India dominated the first session after the early loss and went to lunch with a good score on the board.
India's progress was derailed by Anderson and Broad who picked up the key wickets of Pujara and Kohli early in the 2nd session. First, Pujara was dismissed on 38 by Anderson and in the next over Broad got the wicket of Kohli and pushed India to the backfoot once again. Pujara chipped Anderson's delivery and Bell who was placed at silly mid-on took a beautiful one-handed catch diving to his right. In the next over Kohli was troubled by beautiful delivery by Broad which straightened after pitching and clipped the shoulder of the bat and finds Ian Bell in the second slip. India once again had to build a partnership and did so thanks to Rahane and Vijay. India scored slowly in the first hour of the second session, getting only 18 runs in 14 overs. Vijay and Rahane calmly played the rest of the session and put up an unbroken partnership of 70 runs. India added 71 runs in the session and lost 2 key wickets. At tea India was 177/3 with Vijay being unbeaten on 92 and Rahane on 32.
Rahane got dismissed in the first over after tea without adding any more to his score of 32. It was Plunkett who provided the breakthrough this time with a short ball which hits the toe of Rahane's bat straight to Cook who was at silly point. Vijay maintained his cool and got to his fourth Test century after staying on 99 for 13 balls. Vijay and Dhoni continued to pile up the runs and an attacking 50 by the skipper really troubled the English seamers. Vijay and Dhoni shared an unbroken partnership of 81 for the 5th wicket after the early wicket of Rahane. Vijay batted throughout the day and was unbeaten on 122 while his skipper managed to score his fifty in the last over of the day. At the end of day 1 India managed to put 259 runs on the board at the loss of 4 wickets. Dhoni and Vijay were settled and would most likely put up a big 1st innings total on the next day.
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