ENG vs IND 4th Test: Umesh gets Root, Bumrah dismisses England openers as India finish Day 1 strongly

After reeling at 122/6 at tea, Team India stormed into the fourth Test against England at the Oval with a strong final session on the first day with both bat and ball. The visitors added 69 runs for the final four wickets owing to a smashing knock of 57 runs off just 36 balls by Shardul Thakur followed by three wickets taken by the bowlers, including the big one of England skipper Joe Root as the hists finished the day on 53/3.

Both Rory Burns and Haseeb Hameed were watchful on a track, which was assisting the bowlers with some movement and the spongy bounce throughout the day. They negotiated the first three overs well, before Jasprit Bumrah opened up the game with twin strikes in the same over.

He first dismissed the left-hander Burns, who chopped onto his stumps and then Hameed in the same over, who tried to cut a rising delivery straight into the hands of the wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant.

We have lost both of our openers early.

Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/Kh5KyTSOMS

#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/iW4LdNKiuu

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 2, 2021

After which, skipper Joe Root like he has done all series started his innings aggressively not missing out on the loose balls and rotating the strike regularly, while Dawid Malan on the other end, looked pretty confident after his 70 at Leeds. He too negotiated the balls, which were doing something off the surface and played some exquisite shots on the ones, which needed the treatment.

When it looked like they both will take the hosts safely through to the stumps, the returning Umesh Yadav produced one of the best balls of the day to get the big wicket of Joe Root. A back-of-a-length delivery that pitched outside the off-stump, came back in sharply with angle and crashed into the stumps, giving India the most important breakthrough, which meant the match was in the balance at the end of the first day's play.

MASSIVE moment in the day as Umesh Yadav sneaks one past Root’s forward defence to disturb the woodwork.

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Earlier, a similar script followed for the Indian batsman from the third Test as they lost three early wickets before captain Virat Kohli came to the rescue. But he too fell amidst a second three-wicket collapse before the momentum-changing innings came from Shardul Thakur.

Thakur played an outstanding knock of 57 runs off just 36 balls as he and Umesh Yadav added 63 runs for the eighth wicket, giving his side the much-needed boost, before they were bowled out for 191 runs. Chris Woakes starred for the hosts with four wickets, while Ollie Robinson picked up three.