Manchester: Stuart Broad starred with six for 25 as India were bundled out for 152 runs in the first innings by tea on the first day of the fourth Investec Test against England at the Old Trafford here Thursday.
It was a miserable performance by India as six cricketers failed to open their account. The only saving grace was skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's rearguard 71 and Ravichandran Ashwin's fighting 40.
England pacers made the best use of the overcast conditions after Dhoni opted to bat first. Though the pitch was good for batting the conditions assisted the England seamers who got the swing right from the start. Broad was the pick of the English bowlers while James Anderson picked three for 46.
India were in trouble early as they were left struggling at 8/4. In fact, they lost four wickets with the scoreboard stuck at eight.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was batting on 25 and Ajinkya Rahane fell for 24 at the stroke of lunch. Earlier, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli failed to open their account while Gautam Gambhir made four.
Although the series is leveled 1-1, poor on-field performance and losing a battle off the field have left the team in a vulnerable state. It would be helpful if they also draw some inspiration from the 2007-08 tour to Australia.
Teams:
England: Alastair Cook (captain), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Chris Jordan, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Chris Woakes.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain/wicketkeeper), Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Aaron, Pankaj Singh.
Here are the live updates from Day 1
