England run rampant on Day 1 as India fall for 78

After the euphoria and elation on the final day at Lord’s, Virat Kohli’s India were brought back down to earth on Day One at Headingley after being bowled out for 78. England find themselves in a completely commanding position in the 3rd Test after their seamers ran through the Indian batting lineup to restrict the visitors under 80 before the opening partnership of Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns grinded it out to give England a 42-run first-innings lead with 10 wickets in hand.

After winning a rare toss against England, Kohli opted to bat first with an unchanged XI, and the first over from Jimmy Anderson set the tone for what was a very forgetful day for Indian cricket. Fresh from his century at Lord’s, KL Rahul last only four balls after Anderson kept bowling inswingers to start the innings and tempted the 29-year-old into a drive that found the edge.

Cheteshwar Pujara, departed soon after as the Indian number three extended his bad run of form in 2021 after poking at a wide delivery from Anderson that flew to Jos Buttler behind the stumps. That same combination was at it again to remove the big fish Virat Kohli, with the Indian captain continuing the trend of nicking the ball outside off stump to leave India reeling at 21-3.

Following the three quick dismissals, India consolidated through Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane who both looked relatively settled at the crease. However, England were able to get the crucial breakthrough of Rahane on the stroke of Tea as Robinson found a faint nick to put the hosts back in the driver’s seat.

Rahane’s dismissal opened the floodgates for England after Lunch, with Rishabh Pant gifting Jos Buttler his 5th catch of the afternoon before Rohit Sharma badly mistimed a pull shot straight into the hands of short mid-on. Mohammad Shami couldn’t replicate his heroics from Lord’s and was dismissed for a golden duck by Overton while Sam Curran bowled a searing yorker to remove Ravindra Jadeja before trapping Bumrah on the pads the very next ball.

From 56-3, the Men in Blue capitulated to 67-9 as they lost four wickets in the span of two overs, before eventually being bowled out for only 78.

To make matters worse, India ended the day wicketless after the new English opening pair – Haseeb Hameed and Rory Burns – got the hosts off to an excellent start and ended the day with England taking a 42-run lead. The Indian bowlers were uncharacteristically wayward throughout the 42 overs and struggled to build up any pressure across a sustained period by zoning in on that classic Test match line and length. Hameed and Burns received plenty of wide deliveries that were dutifully dispatched to the boundary as both batters finished the day on half-centuries, with England registering their highest opening score in nearly five years at the end of a dominant day of Test cricket.