ENG vs IND | Jaiswal-Gill tons give India firm grip on Day 1 of English summer

Yashasvi Jaiswal and  KL Rahul walked out after the anthems to signal the start of the English summer’s marquee series and were met with significant swing from Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse under the Leeds sun. However, the duo contended with the new ball confidently, racking up the occasional boundary to keep the scorecard ticking. The introduction of Josh Tongue as first change only hastened the scoring rate as the 50-run mark came up in the 15th over as the venom in the conditions gradually faded away. The hosts seemed destined for a wicketless session with Rahul near flawless and a few streaky edges from Jaiswal finding the gap, but the breakthrough finally arrived just two overs from the end when Rahul flashed at a wide Carse delivery and was caught at slip. Debutant Sai Sudharsan walked out thus on the stroke of Lunch, and had four Stokes balls to survive before the 40-minute break was called, but succumbed for a duck to a leg-side ploy and sent the team in at 91/1.

Shubman Gill joined Jaiswal upon resumption, his first outing at four as well as while captain, but showed no reservations as he pummelled a string of early boundaries to calm Indian nerves. Jaiswal joined the charge too with three boundaries in an over off Tongue after bringing up his half-century, a milestone Gill replicated in just 56 deliveries with the help of eight boundaries. Stokes turned to Shaoib Bashir too to alleviate the pacers’ workload but a wicket continued to eschew them, as Jaiswal brought up a ton on his maiden knock in England and India ended the session without loss while adding 122 runs in the two hours.

The third session began on a high for the hosts with Stokes getting rid of the Indian opener with a corker but the match continued to slip away thereafter. Rishabh Pant danced down the track to slam his second ball for four over Stokes’ head and albeit he presented an uncharacteristic reserved self thereafter, the bowlers were safely kept at bay. Stokes and Woakes found a hint of reverse swing for a brief period, but it could not keep Gill from bringing up his own hundred off just 140 balls and let out a roaring exalt. Pant, on the other end, seemed to rediscover his mojo as he bashed Bashir for a six and a four, the pair ultimately surviving five overs against the second new ball to go into Stumps with an unbeaten partnership of 138 runs.

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