Hyderabad, Jan 25 (UNI) England went into the pavilion satisfied posting 108/3 at lunch against India after losing three quick wickets on Day 1 of the first Test at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium here on Thursday.
It was an absorbing session of play as the fans witnessed a Bazball kind of a start by English openers, Zak Crawley and Ben Duckket. The Indian spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja came in and got rid of them and Ollie Pope, quickly.
But, Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root ensured that England did not lose further wickets as they counterattacked and were lucky enough not to have edged spinning balls.
After winning the toss, England Captain Ben Stokes opted to bat first, and without any surprises, the visitors hewned an attacking start. Crawley and Duckket took a liking to Mohammad Siraj who is playing his first Test in his hometown.
Duckett hammered 7 boundaries in his 35-run innings off 39 balls and Crawley played cautiously, scoring 20 off 40 balls as England raced to 50 off 66 balls.
India Captain Rohit Sharma introduced spin in the 9th over, with Ravindra Jadeja getting turn and Ashwin getting bounce on his spin.
Not surprisingly, Ashwin struck in the 12th over, trapping Duckket lbw, but not before opting for a review. Three overs later, Jadeja had Pope caught by Rohit in the slips cordon for 1.
Three balls later, Ashwin removed Crawley who was caught at mid-off by Siraj who took a low catch as England went down from 55/0 to 60-3 in 21 balls.
India could have had the fourth wicket in the form of Root who tried to sweep Ashwin on his second ball, but the DRS came to his rescue showing that the ball had caressed his bat.
