Moeen strikes ton; England 284/4 after Day 1

India struck twice in the first session, with England reaching 68 for two at lunch.

December 16, 2016 09:24 am | Updated 04:37 pm IST

India's Ishant Sharma celebrates Keaton Jennings' dismissal during the first day of fifth Test against England at MAC stadium in Chennai on Friday.

India's Ishant Sharma celebrates Keaton Jennings' dismissal during the first day of fifth Test against England at MAC stadium in Chennai on Friday.

Moeen Ali reached his fifth Test century shortly after the drinks break on Day 1, sharing a crucial 146-run partnership with Joe Root, and then put on 86 runs along with Jonny Bairstow. Ravindra Jadeja was among the wickets, grabbing three big ones in Alastair Cook, Joe Root and Bairstow, even as England trudged on up to 284/4 at Stumps on the first day.

While Root fell on 88, caught-behind in a controversial manner in the 55th over, Bairstow fell just shy of half-century as Jadeja did him in with an inviting wide loopy delivery in the 81st over.

England won the toss and recovered from a shaky start to reach 182-3 at tea on Friday, the opening day of the fifth test against India.

At the break, Moeen Ali was unbeaten on 63 while Bairstow was batting on 10 not out.

In the afternoon session, Ali extended his third-wicket partnership with Joe Root (88) to 146 runs, which lifted England out of early trouble at 21-2. Root scored his 27th test half century, while Ali notched his 10th.

Seeking to restore some pride after being subjected to three successive crushing defeats at the hands of the hosts, England lost the wickets of skipper Alastair Cook (10) and Keaton Jennings (1) with just 21 runs on the board.

England had won and toss and elected to bat against the hosts at the fifth and final Test that began in Chennai M.A.Chidambaram Stadium.

Jennings, who signalled his arrival in the Test arena with a century and golden duck in his maiden game in Mumbai last week, was the first casualty as he he edged Sharma to wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel.

The visitors were 7/1 and it soon became 21/2 when Jadeja, the first slow bowler to be introduced into the attack, induced an edge from Cook for skipper Virat Kohli to take a low catch at first slip.

Jennings, while attempting to drive an over-pitched delivery, got a thick edge as India reaped the reward for maintaining discipline early on.

Cook, who got to the 11,000-run landmark, once again fell to Jadeja who, in the previous over, created doubts in the beleaguered English skipper’s minds with some that turned and some that did not.

The left-arm spinner then pushed one wide outside off and got a thick edge from the batsman whose horror tour against Jadeja continued.

India has already won the series with three wins, but it remains to be seen if the guests will taste victory in the last Test match. If India wins the Chennai Test, it will be their biggest-ever Test series victory against England and stretch an unbeaten run to a record 18 matches.

International cricket is being played in Chennai grounds after a year, amidst uncertainties following the death of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and cyclone Vardah.

Two changes were made in both the squads. Ishant Sharma and Amit Mishra are in India's playing XI. Liam Dawson is making his debut for England and Stuart Broad is back to the squad.

The ground staff at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium had worked hard to get the field ready after a cyclone hit Chennai on Monday.

That storm damaged practice pitches and other facilities, so both teams went into this match without a proper net session.

The pitch was readied with techniques including the use of burning coals to dehydrate the surface.

The teams (from):

India: Virat Kohli (capt.), R. Ashwin (vice-capt.), Murali Vijay, K.L. Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Karun Nair, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Parthiv Patel (wk), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, and Amit Mishra.

England: Alastair Cook (capt.), Joe Root, Keaton Jennings, Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jake Ball, Gary Ballance, Gareth Batty, Jos Buttler, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, and Chris Woakes.

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