Virat Kohli scores his maiden Test hundred in England to give India the edge in the first Test. Here's a photo gallery you cannot miss from Day 2 at Edgbaston, Birmingham.
Virat Kohli took a giant stride towards exorcising the ghosts of 2014 with a masterful century as he singlehandedly pulled India out of the woods against England on an eventful second day of the first Test.
Kohli's 149, which will rank amongst one of the finest hundreds by an Indian batsman on English soil, enabled the visitors to reach 274 thereby bringing down the first innings deficit to only 13 runs. England had scored 287 in their first essay.
Interestingly, Kohli's 149 in a single innings is 15 runs more than his aggregate of 134 runs in 10 knocks during the disastrous tour of 2014. At stumps, England were 9 for 1 in their second innings with an overall lead of 22 runs.
1. Formality complete
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Indian pacer Mohammed Shami takes the final English wicket - Sam Curran - to bowl the hosts out for 287. The wicket fell in the second over the day.
(Image: AFP)
2. First blow
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Opener Murali Vijay is trapped in front by Sam Curran for 20 off 45. A lot depended on 'The Monk' as India struggled to find their ideal top three for the first Test, but the right-hander never looked settled at the crease on Thursday.
(Image: Reuters)
3. Gamble goes wrong
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KL Rahul replaced the experienced Cheteshwar Pujara at No.3. He came into this game with considerable form, but played a nothing shot to chop one on from Sam Curran. He perished for four runs and left India in a spot of bother.
(Image: Reuters)
4. Another disappointment overseas
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Shikhar Dhawan was on this ice coming into this match. With Cheteshwar Pujara left on the bench, the left-hander was expected to justify his position in the playing XI with some runs at the top. But Dhawan couldn't cash in on a decent and edged one to second slip after a 46-ball 26.
(Image: Reuters)
5. Wrecker-in-Chief
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Left-arm fast-bowler Sam Curran was the Wrecker-in-Chief for England. He accounted for the wickets of India's top three batters - Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul. His in-swingers to the right-handers was lethal and left India reeling at 59 for 3.
(Image: Reuters)
6. Clueless
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Arguably the most bizarre dismissal of the day was that of Dinesh Karthik. The keeper-bat played all over an in-swinger from Ben Stokes and saw his stumps getting castled. It was a poor, poor shot from a batsman who has been in decent form. Karthik's duck, along with the manner in which he got dismissed, will surely raise a few eyebrows.
(Image: Reuters)
7. Jaffa of a delivery!
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Sam Curran bowled an absolute peach of an in-swinging yorker to trap Hardik Pandya in front. The Indian all-rounder got a bit of a start, stitching a decent partnership with skipper Virat Kohli to resurrect the innings, but failed to capitalise and perished for 22.
(Image: AFP)
8. Top all-rounder
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Ben Stokes showed just why he's regarded by many as the finest all-rounder in world cricket. The right-arm medium-pacer bowled with great accuracy, moving the ball both ways, to pick the crucial wickets of Ajinkya Rahane (15) and Dinesh Karthik (0).
(Image: Reuters)
9. Bow down to the King!
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Virat Kohlli scored his maiden Test hundred on English soil. He celebrated getting to his milestone by kissing his wedding ring as his wife and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma applauded from the stands. The importance of Kohli's ton cannot be overstated. He pulled his team out of a near hopeless position at 182/8 to give them the edge at the end of day's play.
(Image: AFP)
10. Perfect end
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Ravichandran Ashwin knocked over Alastair Cook's stump for the final act of Day 2. It was a near identical dismissal to the one Cook suffered in the first innings. England ended the Day at 9/1 in their second innings, leading India by 22 runs.
(Image: Reuters)
