India 259-4
Murali Vijay ends day one unbeaten on 122 from 294 balls
England had a very good first day of the series, given the circumstances, perhaps a wicket away from excellent, having been put in the field by MS Dhoni. A cultured unbeaten century from the Indian opener Murali Vijay, brisk at the outset although considerably less so later, was his fourth in a six-year career and first outside his homeland although such is the state of the pitch, it may as well have been Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mohali where he made the others, all against Australia.
No matter how the match pans out, the pitch is a shocker. If Lords and Headingley offered turgid surfaces for the series against Sri Lanka, then this dry, brown offering is playing the slowest of them all. If the summer continues in this manner, then by the time the caravan reaches the Oval for the final Test, the new ball will be leaving a trail in the dust as if a snail had travelled through. By then bowlers on both sides will be on their knees.
Continue reading... Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.
Murali Vijay ends day one unbeaten on 122 from 294 balls
England had a very good first day of the series, given the circumstances, perhaps a wicket away from excellent, having been put in the field by MS Dhoni. A cultured unbeaten century from the Indian opener Murali Vijay, brisk at the outset although considerably less so later, was his fourth in a six-year career and first outside his homeland although such is the state of the pitch, it may as well have been Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mohali where he made the others, all against Australia.
No matter how the match pans out, the pitch is a shocker. If Lords and Headingley offered turgid surfaces for the series against Sri Lanka, then this dry, brown offering is playing the slowest of them all. If the summer continues in this manner, then by the time the caravan reaches the Oval for the final Test, the new ball will be leaving a trail in the dust as if a snail had travelled through. By then bowlers on both sides will be on their knees.
Continue reading... Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.