England v India: first Test, day one – live!

Over-by-over updates from the first Test at EdgbastonThousands of empty seats expected for first TestFeel free to email Rob here 3.01pm BST 44th over: England 129-3 (Root 52, Bairstow 8) Yadav replaces Shami. This is such an important knock for Root, who has rarely looked so determined to stay at the crease. The last time I can recall him playing like this was when he made that huge double hundred against Pakistan in 2016. If he gets out again between 50 and 99, it will do all sorts to his humour.“They’re discussing all sorts of cunningly disguised (and named) deliveries on Sky but I think you may have just added one to the lexicon (40th over) – the ‘seductive slider’,” says Brian Withington. “I reckon it starts off looking like a tempting long hop but then surprises disarmingly on pitching?” 2.57pm BST 43rd over: England 127-3 (Root 50, Bairstow 8) Ishant Sharma replaces Our Ashwin, who has excellent first-day figures of 9-2-24-1. Root works a single to leg to reach a restrained yet expert fifty from 107 balls. We know all about his conversion woes but, as Nasser Hussain often points out, his consistency is staggering: he makes at least one fifty in almost every Test he plays. “Earlier this week, begins Adam Horridge, “I enjoyed the responses to this tweet from author Jeremy Duns which proposed the deployment of everyday phrases as titles for dark thrillers. I’m sure there’s also a treasure trove of possibilities to be gleaned from the cricketing lexicon and I feel the following could work for starters: Continue reading…
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