With the exception of Virat Kohli and Shardul Thakur, no Indian batsman scored more than 20 runs in their first innings.
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Day 1 of the fourth Test between India and England ended with the hosts having a slight edge. It was another underwhelming batting performance from the visitors as they were bundled out for a mere 191 runs. In response, England were 53/3 at the end of the day’s play. It was definitely an improvement over the first innings of the third Test where India were bowled out for just 78, but it still did not seem enough at the time. However, a strong bowling display from the Indians have put the pressure back on England. Although the home team still holds a slight advantage, things could change completely if the visitors can pick a couple of early wickets on Day 2.
India’s batting in the last Test match was shocking, to say the least. They were bowled out for just 78 in the first innings and they lost seven wickets in under an hour in the second. Fans expected them to do better at the Oval Test and while they did score more runs, 191 is never a big score in a Test match. Surprisingly enough, the highest run scorer for the visitors was Shardul Thakur, who made an impressive 57. Skipper Virat Kohli also made an important score with 50, but the rest of the batsmen failed to deliver any meaningful contributions on the day.
Not one single batter apart from these two got a score of more than 20 runs. KL Rahul made 17 and Rohit Sharma only managed to score 11. It was a horrid day for Cheteshwar Pujara who made only four runs while Ravindra Jadeja made 10. Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant just cannot seem to find their form with the bat as they made 14 and 9 respectively. All in all, it is definitely not something that Virat Kohli will look back and be happy about. His team has undoubtedly found themselves in a batting slump and if it continues, there is very little chance of them winning the series.
England skipper Joe Root only had to use four bowlers to get the job done. The Oval track is supposed to be the most spin-friendly in England, but Root’s pacers were good enough to bundle India and restrict them to just 191. Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson were the stars as they took four and three wickets respectively. James Anderson and Craig Overton managed to bag one wicket each.
Everyone thought that England would have a comfortable time in going past the total and building an unassailable lead like they managed in Leeds. However, the Indian bowlers had other ideas. At the end of the day, the hosts found themselves at 53-3. While they still hold the advantage in the match, a couple of wickets early on Day 2 could change everything. Currently, Dawid Malan and Overton are the two in the middle for the Three Lions. Malan has scored 26 runs so far while Overton has 1.
For India, pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav are the two wicket takers so far. Bumrah had dismissed the two English openers, Rory Burns for 5 and Haseeb Hammed for a duck. However, it was a returning Umesh that bagged the all important wicket of skipper Joe Root. He was dismissed by the veteran pacer after making 21 runs.
