Indian captain Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat first in the third Test of the ongoing five-match series against England.
On an overcast morning at Headingley in Leeds, England pacer James Anderson stole the show in the first hour of play with some sublime bowling. He dismissed KL Rahul (0), Cheteshwar Pujara (1) and Kohli (7) all before completing his 6th over of the first innings.
Huge hour for England! 3 big wickets. Brave call from India to bat first, it’s the best Day 1 ground to bowl at in the country IMO. Pitch will get better & better. Won’t be much in it for the seamers from Day 3 onwards- enough in it now!
— Stuart Broad (@StuartBroad8) August 25, 2021
India were 56 for the loss of four wickets at lunch.
For the seventh time, Kohli was sent back by Anderson – the joint-most to any bowler, along with Nathan Lyon. With this dismissal, it’s also 50 innings since Kohli made an international century.
We think @jimmy9 enjoyed this one! 💥
Scorecard/Videos: https://t.co/UakxjzUrcE
🏴 #ENGvIND 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/3zGBCmJlhQ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 25, 2021
That is a very poor shot from Virat Kohli. Jimmy Anderson has three in the first hour.
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) August 25, 2021
Meanwhile, England skipper Joe Root said he wasn’t disappointed to bowl first. England included fast bowler Craig Overton in the playing XI for Mark Wood and top-order batsman Dawid Malan for Dom Sibley.
India XI: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
England XI: Rory Burns, Haseeb Hameed, Dawid Malan, Joe Root (c), Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Craig Overton, Ollie Robinson, James Anderson.
