England bowlers polished off the Indian tail in quick succession and their openers then scored at helter-skelter pace on a perfect second morning for the hosts in the third Test on Sunday.
Pacers James Anderson (3/64) and Stuart Broad (3/72) ripped through the bottom half of the Indian batting order, the innings just lasting 8.5 overs on an overcast morning at Trent Bridge.
Resuming on overnight score of 307/6 with the dangerous Rishabh Pant at the crease and R Ashwin joining him, the Indian tail failed to wag against some disciplined England bowling. India were bowled out for 329 in 94.5 overs with Anderson (2/12) and Broad (2/8) sharing the spoils in the morning.
India’s hope of posting a total near 400 quickly evaporated when Broad castled Pant in the fifth over of the morning that led to a rush of wickets. Unlike on Saturday when he kept bowling short, he bowled a much fuller line which gave good rewards. He pitched it up to Pant and the left-hander, trying to drive, only managed an inside edge as the ball crashed onto his stumps.
The hometown hero then crashed through the defences of Ashwin in his next over with a vicious in-swinger before his senior partner Anderson accounted for the final two batsmen off successive balls. This was exactly the start England had envisioned although India were happy to have a crack in helpful conditions.
However, lead pacer Mohammed Shami was way off the mark that saw England coast to 46/0 in just nine overs at lunch. He kept bowling short and wide to both Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings, who happily dispatched them to boundaries. If Shami wasn’t bowling wide of the off-stump, he was hurling it down leg-side too, hardly making any sort of impact.
Jasprit Bumrah impressed in his four-over spell, constantly harrying Jennings and Cook with his awkward action and pace off the pitch. He even got an edge off Jennings with his very first ball but Shami being extremely loose from the other end, Jennings and Cook didn’t face much struggles.
