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| Ageless Anderson reduces India to 53 for 2 before rain forces early lunch | | | agencies
BIRMINGHAM, July 1: England's most decorated pacer James Anderson produced probing spells in the rain-hit morning session to reduce India to 53 for two at lunch on day one of the rescheduled fifth Test here on Friday.
Rain forced the lunch break 20 minutes before time with Hanuma Vihari (14 batting off 46 balls) and Virat Kohli (1 batting off 7) in the middle.
Anderson had openers Shubman Gill (17 off 24) and Cheteshwar Pujara (13 off 46) caught by Zak Crawley at second slip to give England the advantage after Ben Stokes opted to 'chase' at Edgbaston.
India could have been three down had Crawley held on to a tough chance presented by Vihari off Matthew Potts. In overcast conditions, it was expected to be a tough session for India, who came into the final match of the series after playing a four-day warm-up game. England, on the other hard, came battled hardened following a morale boosting whitewash of reigning world Test champions New Zealand.
Batting in English conditions is arguably the toughest test for opening batters and the job gets tougher with Anderson and Stuart Broad holding the new ball.
Gill promised a lot during his stay in the middle. He began with a boundary with a flick through mid-wicket off Anderson before producing a glorious straight drive. Then came the pull shot off Broad and it seemed Gill was ready for the challenge.
However, one is never set while playing in England and a poor shot led to Gill's downfall. Anderson is relentless around the off-stump but this particular ball was on the wider side and Gill could have left it alone but he poked at it to be caught at second slip.
After a five-over burst, Anderson returned to dismiss Pujara for the 12th time in his career. Pujara, who got back into the Indian team after a prolific run in county cricket, got a beauty on the off-stump that straightened and bounced off good length to take the outside edge. |
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