India vs England 2014: 1st Test, Day 1 - As it happened...

=================================================================================

Zee Media Bureau/Suyash Srivastava Nottingham: Indian opener Murali Vijay slammed a stupendous ton against England on the first day of the first Test match, his first on a foreign soil, as India ended the day on an impressive note. SCORECARD» | COMMENTARY» | REPORT» ALSO READ: Can India rub salt into England’s misery?» MS Dhoni & Co. can learn a lot from cash-deprived Sri Lanka» Alastair Cook is last thing England would want to lose» ================================================================================= India, 1st innings: Over 90 || Score 259/4 STUMPS! Plunkett bowled the last over of the day. MS Dhoni got an edge off the second ball and reached his half-century off just 64 balls. Murali Vijay confidently defended the next four balls and the day has belonged to India, courtesy these two batsmen. Vijay and Dhoni have added unbeaten 81 runs for the fifth-wicket partnership. English bowlers very looking impressive after lunch, but that was the only period when the Indian batsmen looked vulnerable against them. Cook and his boys now have a job up their sleeves to pick wickets in the first session tomorrow, while MS Dhoni would want his team to reach the 400-run mark as soon as possible. Murali Vijay 122* (294b) MS Dhoni 50* (64b) ================================================================================= Over 85 || Score 252/4 Cook took the new ball in the 82nd over but Dhoni and Vijay made sure there was no further damage. No boundaries have been scored even since the second new ball was taken but it is important from India's perspective to not lose any more wickets in the next five overs. This partnership is now worth 74 runs. ================================================================================= Over 80 || Score 243/4 Murali Vijay charged down the wicket off Moeen Ali and hit him for the first six of the match. This partnership is now worth 65 runs and it's time for Cook to take the new ball. ================================================================================= Over 75 || Score 217/4 Most of the Indian batsmen have stitched crucial partnerships today and Vijay, Dhoni are in the process of adding another one. With Dhoni at the crease, the challenge for England would be control the flow of runs. ================================================================================= Over 70 || Score 204/4 After scoring a dozen balls at 99, Vijay flicked one from Anderson down the leg side to reach his maiden Test century on a foreign soil. It is his fourth overall Test ton. Meanwhile, MS Dhoni has made his intentions clear by hitting three boundaries in his 19-ball stay so far. ================================================================================= Over 65 || Score 184/4 While batting on 95, Murali Vijay drove one past the fielder at mid-on for a boundary. Just six runs came in the last five overs. MS Dhoni is looking to play his strokes and he could increase the run-rate if he spends some time at the crease. ================================================================================= Over 60 || Score 178/4 Plunkett picked his first wicket of the match as Ajinkya Rahane got a bottom edge off a short ball and Alastair Cook grabbed it at silly point. The previous ball, Rahane was lucky as he defended a short ball which well just short of Cook at silly point. Rahane would be disappointed with that shot as he was settled and went for the pull possibly because of that dropped chance. Vijay and Rahane added 71 runs for the fourth-wicket partnership. Skipper MS Dhoni is the new man in. An unperturbed Murali Viijay is batting on 93. AM Rahane c Cook b Plunkett 32 (81b) ================================================================================= Over 55 || Score 166/3 This partnership is now worth 59 runs. Vijay is batting on 89 and is heading towards what will be an innings of substance. He missed on an overseas ton by three runs in South Africa. Cook is looking short of options and ideas at the moment. ================================================================================= Over 50 || Score 138/3 The conditions have become overcast and the pair of Vijay and Rahane continue to frustrate English bowlers. Even though they haven't scored many runs in the session, they have also made sure not to throw their wickets away. Plunkett and Stokes are creating no problems whatsoever for these two. ================================================================================= Over 45 || Score 125/3 Vijay and Rahane have continued the good work. These two have ensured no to give their wickets to the hosts after losing two quick wickets. Vijay has been brilliant today and he looks all set to play a big knock for his team. Rahane, like always, is looking more comfortable after spending some time at the crease. This partnership is now worth 18 runs. ================================================================================= Over 40 || Score 120/3 England missed out on an opportunity when Rahane edged one towards the slip cordon, but it fell short of Ian Bell at second slip. The English bowlers, Anderson and Broad in particular, are once again bowling a probing spell here. Rahane and Vijay are even though playing in a defensive mode, at the same time they are not hesitating in punishing anything which is lose. ================================================================================= Over 33 || Score 107/3 England came up all energised after the lunch break and were rewarded in the second over bowled by Anderson, where Pujara mistimed a slower one towards silly mid-on and Ian Bell took a screamer diving full length to his right. That was a superb trap by the England team. Virat Kohli was the new man in but he couldn't do much as he edged one off Broad towards second slip where Bell took a clean catch. Ajinkya Rahane is the new man in and it has been a superb comeback from the hosts. CA Pujara c Bell b Anderson 38 (69b) ================================================================================= Over 30 || Score 106/1 Lunch: After losing Dhawan's wicket at the score of 33, these two have dominated the proceedings as nothing worked for Alastair Cook and his boys. Cook would now be an extremely worried skipper as Vijay and Pujara have added unbeaten 73 runs for the second-wicket partnership. Plunkett is bowling short balls from round the stumps and is hoping that one of these two will make a mistake. But none of these batsmen have made any attempts to play the short ball. India's session so far! ================================================================================= Over 25 || Score 94/1 Murali Vijay scored two consecutive boundaries off Ben Stokes and reached his half-century off 68 balls! It has been a brilliant knock from Vijay and he has done nothing wrong so far. He is leaving plenty of balls and has played some fine strokes off ones which were in his radar. Moeen Ali is bowling from the other end and England are definitely missing a front line spinner here. 23 runs scored in the last five overs, the partnership is now worth 61 runs. ================================================================================= Over 20 || Score 71/1 The English bowlers are finding it hard to get some swing. The conditions have looked favourable for the Indian batsmen so far and Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara are making the best use of it. Liam Plunkett has done a good job so far. He is quick and has managed to get enough swing to keep the Indian batsmen guessing. The second-wicket partnership is now worth 38 runs. ================================================================================= Over 12 || Score 47/1 After Dhawan's dismissal, both these batsmen have played some fine strokes. Cook has given Anderson a long spell here and the right-arm seamer is slowly finding his momentum. We have also seen some aggressive captaincy from Cook so far who has given his fast bowlers three slips and a Gully. Murali Vijay is looking comfortable at the crease and has played a fine innings so far. ================================================================================= Over 7 || Score 33/1 India got off to a decent start. But in the seventh over, Dhawan tried to play the delivery slightly away from the body and got the thick outside edge of his bat and wicket-keeper Prior took a low catch to send the southpaw back. Now the English bowlers are getting a bit of swing. After the fall of first wicket, Cheteshwar Pujara is the new man in. Patience would be the key for the Indian batsmen. S Dhawan c Prior b Anderson 12 (24b) ================================================================================= Over 2 || Score 13/0 Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay are opening the innings for India, whereas, two prime bowlers of England James Anderson and Stuart Broad are sharing the new ball. In the first over of the match bowled by Anderson, Vijay collected three boundaries. First boundary came through the outside edge but the next two came from the much more confident shots by the right-hander. In the next over Broad was right on the money. The new ball is not doing much at the moment, which is a good sign for the Indian openers. But both the seamers need to pitch the ball a bit up. ================================================================================= Toss: India have won the toss and elected to bat first. Stuart Binny is making his Test debut. It means India are playing with five bowlers in the opening Test, a rare sight to watch. Hi and welcome to our Live coverage of the first Test of the five-match series to be played between India and England. India have an uphill task ahead of them to survive in yet another overseas series after disappointing in the previous two played at South Africa and New Zealand respectively. Indian team would want to make a fresh start, and the memories of the 2011 tour shouldn`t be on their minds. India have a formidable batting line-up in Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and skipper MS Dhoni. Pujara and Kohli are expected to do most of the scoring in this series and it is also a perfect opportunity for them to gain respect from their seniors by doing well on the foreign soil. While expectations aren’t very high from the rest of the batsmen, Rahane is someone could score heap of runs considering his technique. But batting has never been a major concern for India. The question is whether the likes of Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin can dismiss England twice in a Test? For England too, the current situation isn’t a hunky-dory one as they have performed poorly in their last few series. England were humiliated by the Aussies in the return Ashes series and the recent loss against Sri Lanka has only added to their woes. In the batting department, England’s major concern is the form of skipper Alastair Cook. Cook’s willow has failed to produce the magic of late but his record against India is extremely impressive and he would desperately want to add more runs to it. In the absence of batsmen like Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen, the onus will be on Ian Bell to score big knocks on a regular basis. Joe Root and Moeen Ali have played some good knocks in recent times and they will have to deliver similar results against India as well. The series is a crucial one for the skippers of both the teams. Both Cook and Dhoni are under scrutiny for their batting form and captaincy in Tests. It would be interesting to see who can soak the pressure and silence the critics.