London, Aug 1: On a tricky green pitch under overcast conditions, Karun Nair hit a fighting unbeaten 52 and took India to 204/6 in 64 overs at stumps on day one of the fifth Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test against England at The Oval.

Two rain delays marred a major chunk of the day’s play, but Nair notching up his first half-century in Tests after 3149 days, laced with seven boundaries, and his unbroken 51-run stand with Washington Sundar had the ingredients to make India the happier side. What would really be heartening for Nair is his making the most of his chance of coming into the playing eleven after being included in place of Shardul Thakur by showing great application and grit to stand tall for India on an attritional day of Test cricket.

But India would also be rueing that no other batter could make a significant score on a seam and swing-friendly pitch. For England, who opted to bowl first, Gus Atkinson and Josh Tongue took two wickets each, while Chris Woakes had a scalp before leaving the field due to a left shoulder injury.

In the morning, after electing to bowl first under grey skies and damp conditions, Atkinson made the early breakthrough when he got a fuller wobble seam ball to nip in a touch and trap Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw, with stand-in captain Ollie Pope’s hesitant review leading to the on-field call being overturned in their favour.

KL Rahul and B Sai Sudharsan had a little partnership of 28 runs, where they judged line and length well. But the build-up of pressure made by a couple of quiet overs after drinks break forced Rahul to go for a cut off Woakes, but the ball being too close to him meant he chopped on to his stumps for 14.

Sudharsan began to open up by driving Tongue down the ground for four, before Gill rocked back to punch Overton for another boundary. While Gill punished short and wide balls from Overton for boundaries, Sudharsan wowed everyone by nailing a perfect straight drive off Woakes.

In the session, Gill went past Sunil Gavaskar’s 732 runs against West Indies in 1978/79 to grab the new record for most runs by an Indian captain in a Test series. Before he could add more runs to his total, an unexpected heavy downpour forced everyone to go off the field, and early lunch was taken.

The post-lunch session finally began after a rain delay of over two hours, and Gill found himself struggling against outswing deliveries. Gill, the leading run-getter of the ongoing series, seemed to have got some stability when a brilliant punchy cover-drive got him a boundary off Jamie Overton.

But on the second ball of the 28th over, Gill had a major brain fade when he set off for a non-existent quick single, before slipping a little bit. Atkinson, on his follow-through, gathered the ball quickly and nailed a direct hit at stumps on the striker’s end to dismiss Gill for 21.

It was a wonderful spell from Atkinson, who pitched the ball up and kept a tight line around off stump on a green pitch offering both seam and swing. While Sudharsan continued to show good temperament to be unbeaten on 26 off 84 balls, Karun Nair survived a little examination and was on nought off eight balls before rain forced him and everyone off the field, as only six overs were bowled in the second session.

The final session proceedings began sedately after another rain delay of an hour and 16 minutes. Sudharsan controlled his cut shots so well to get a brace of boundaries off Jamie Overton. But Tongue came in to bowl jaffas exactly on the same off-stump line with precision to take out left-handed batters B Sai Sudharsan and Ravindra Jadeja.

On the fourth ball of the 36th over, Tongue produced a wicket out of nowhere when his short of length ball angled in and nibbled away late to take an outside edge of Sudharsan's bat, and Jamie Smith completed a simple catch behind the stumps.

Four overs later, Tongue produced another jaffa when he got a short of length ball to hoop around and took the outside edge of Jadeja’s defence, which was easily caught by Smith. Nair had luck on his side when an inside edge off Woakes just went past stumps for four, while Dhruv Jurel used the pace of the all-rounder to clip through leg-side for another boundary, before the drinks break arrived.

After this, Jurel hit an upper cut off Overton for four, before being given out lbw to Atkinson after not offering a shot. He managed to overturn the call on review, as replays showed the ball missing off stump. But on the very next ball, Jurel played another cut, and this time Harry Brook took the catch to his right at second slip to dismiss him for 19.

Though England continued to keep things tight, Nair clipped Overton for four, while Washington Sundar glanced Atkinson for four off a no-ball. With Chris Woakes walking off the field after trying to stop a boundary off Nair's bat, which resulted in left shoulder damage, the right-handed batter eventually reached his half-century off 89 deliveries, which also brought up India’s 200, before stumps arrived.

Brief scores:

India 204/6 in 64 overs (Karun Nair 52 not out, B Sai Sudharsan 38; Gus Atkinson 2-31, Josh Tongue 2-47) against England

(IANS)

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