After dominating the first session of the fourth Test at the Motera Stadium, India made another resounding start thanks to Mohammed Siraj, who removed Jonny Bairstow early on in the session. England have been reduced to 78 for four as they look to earn a draw in the Test match to level the series.
Coming after the break, Ravichandran Ashwin hit the right areas whereas Mohammed Siraj bent his back to make the English batters work hard for their runs. Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes were in ominous touch in the morning session to reconstruct England’s innings but the break seemed to have undone their concentration.
Mohammed Siraj gets the better of Jonny Bairstow
Into his second over after lunch, Siraj bowled a screamer of a delivery that jagged in sharply and Jonny Bairstow missed the line. The ball kissed the back pad on its way to the keeper. The appeal was a vociferous one from Mohammed Siraj and the umpire also was convinced enough to raise his finger. Pace once again did the trick for the Indian fast bowler.
Bairstow immediately walked to Ben Stokes to review the decision. Height was the only issue but the ball-tracker showed about 25-30% of the ball hitting the top of the stumps. Jonny Bairstow shakes his head ad walks off as Mohammed Siraj is elated as he celebrates his second wicket.
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Watch – Virat Kohli and Ben Stokes Involved In A Heated Exchange On Day 1
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IND vs ENG 2021, 4th Test, Day 1: Jonny Bairstow Wicket https://t.co/gX6CKk54dT
— Cricsphere (@Cricsphere) March 4, 2021
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Earlier in the day, India were the better side as they managed to scalp three wickets in the first session. Ishant Sharma almost had Zak Crawley on the second ball of the game. Virat Kohli soon turned to Axar Patel for the sixth over and the left-arm spinner struck on the second ball – yet again knocking over a batsman with his straighter deliveries.
Crawley then threw his wicket away in Axar’s next. Siraj got Joe Root from the first ball after drinks. Siraj had a few close moments with Stokes and there were words exchanged between the sides. Stokes played out that phase and managed to find boundaries before going for lunch.
