A loud, eager cheer echoed around Edgbaston as James Anderson ran in to bowl to Virat Kohli for the first time on Thursday.
This was a contest that had been awaited and built up for four years, one billed as a test of Kohli’s mettle, a barometer of India’s chances in England. This was a battle, quite simply, that a whole series had been distilled down to. Kohli lost and then won; Anderson won and then lost; in the end India heaved a colossal sigh of relief.
There are days when Test cricket burns slowly, simmers gently, and takes its own, sweet time in the sun to make progress. Then there are days like this: of arresting, unrelenting, intense drama.
Gripping contest
Anderson had the measure of Kohli for large parts of the second day of the first Test — troubling him, teasing him, testing his patience, finding the edge — but ultimately could not dislodge him. Instead, it was Kohli who thrived, biding his time, soaking up all the stress, and making the most of two dropped chances to produce a marvellous, gritty 149.
His century dragged India to 274, only 13 behind England’s first-innings score. The home side had a few tricky overs to get through before the close of play and on came R. Ashwin, to produce a carbon copy of the delivery that had claimed Alastair Cook in the first innings.
At stumps England was nine for one, as Kohli walked off pumping his fist.
At one stage, though, the prospect of India finishing the day in the ascendancy seemed remote. With the exception of the captain, this was yet another poor batting performance, a desperate struggle against the moving ball. Shikhar Dhawan looked uneasy while K.L. Rahul fell to a bad shot as Sam Curran ripped out the top three with his left-arm swing. India made it to lunch dazed, having lost three for nine in the space of 14 balls.
There was worse to come after the interval, when Ben Stokes roared in from the Pavilion End. Ajinkya Rahane edged him to fourth slip trying to pull out of a shot half an hour into the session. Dinesh Karthik was bowled neck and crop for a duck shortly after.
At the other end, Anderson soldiered on, bowling virtually non-stop. He sent down 15 of the first 16 overs of the innings from the City End, desperately seeking a wicket.
Kohli did his best not to be lured into lazy shots but it was still not enough: he edged Anderson behind a few times: a couple of times the ball fell short; on the final occasion, it carried to second slip, where Dawid Malan shelled the simplest of chances. Kohli was on 21 then, a score he would remain on for 26 deliveries.
Lucky escape
Next ball, from the other end, Stokes drew an edge from Hardik Pandya, but Cook put the offering down at first slip. At 100 for five, India was listing dangerously. By the time the tea interval came around, Kohli had faced 43 deliveries of Anderson’s, managing only six runs off two scoring shots.
After the break, Kohli was dropped again, off Stokes on 51. It was a difficult chance but Malan was the culprit again. Anderson bowled Ashwin and looked to the heavens, some reward for his efforts at last.
But Kohli carried on. He added 35 runs for the ninth wicket with Ishant Sharma, and 57 for the 10th with Umesh. He steered Stokes through third man to raise his hundred, and then flogged a tired English attack.
England vs india, first test, Day two
England — 1st Innings: Alastair Cook b Ashwin 13 (28b, 2x4) , Keaton Jennings b Shami 42 (98b, 4x4) , Joe Root run out 80 (156b, 9x4) , Dawid Malan lbw b Shami 8 (14b, 1x4) , Jonny Bairstow b Umesh 70 (88b, 9x4) , Ben Stokes c & b Ashwin 21 (41b, 2x4) , Jos Buttler lbw b Ashwin 0 (2b) , Sam Curran c Karthik b Shami 24 (71b, 3x4) , Adil Rashid lbw b Ishant 13 (18b, 2x4) , Stuart Broad lbw b Ashwin 1 (7b) , James Anderson (not out) 2 (15b) ; Extras (b-9, lb-4): 13; Total (in 89.4 overs): 287.
Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Cook, 8.5 overs), 2-98 (Jennings, 35.1), 3-112 (Malan, 39.3), 4-216 (Root, 62.3), 5-223 (Bairstow, 65.6), 6-224 (Buttler, 66.4), 7-243 (Stokes, 74.1), 8-278 (Rashid, 83.1), 9-283 (Broad, 84.2).
India bowling: Umesh 17-2-56-1, Ishant 17-1-46-1, Ashwin 26-7-62-4, Shami 19.4-2-64-3, Pandya 10-1-46-0.
India — 1st Innings: M. Vijay lbw b Curran 20 (45b, 4x4) , Shikhar Dhawan c Malan b Curran 26 (46b, 3x4) , K.L. Rahul b Curran 4 (2b, 1x4) , Virat Kohli c Broad b Rashid 149 (225b, 22x4, 1x6) , Ajinkya Rahane c Jennings b Stokes 15 (34b, 1x4) , Dinesh Karthik b Stokes 0 (4b) , Hardik Pandya lbw b Curran 22 (52b, 3x4) , R. Ashwin b Anderson 10 (15b, 3x4), Mohammed Shami c Malan b Anderson 2 (4b) ; Ishant Sharma lbw b Rashid 5 (17b) , Umesh Yadav (not out) 1 (16b) ; Extras (b-4, lb-11, nb-4, w-1): 20; Total (in 76 overs): 274.
Fall of wickets: 1-50 (Vijay, 13.4), 2-54 (Rahul, 13.6), 3-59 (Dhawan, 15.5), 4-100 (Rahane, 27.4), 5-100 (Karthik, 29.2), 6-148 (Pandya, 45.6), 7-169 (Ashwin, 50.3), 8-182 (Shami, 54.1), 9-217 (Ishant, 63.4).
England bowling: Anderson 22-7-41-2, Broad 10-2-40-0, Curran 17-1-74-4, Rashid 8-0-31-2, Stokes 19-4-73-2.
England — 2nd innings: A. Cook b Ashwin 0 (14b) , Keaton Jennings (batting) 5 (8b, 1x4) ; Extras (b-4): 4; Total (for one wkt. in 3.4 overs): 9.
Fall of wicket: 1-9 (Cook, 3.4).
India bowling: Shami 2-2-0-0, Ashwin 1.4-0-5-1.
England ahead by 22 runs with nine wickets remaining.
