Joe Root (centre) made 64 and 109 within the matchEngland 183 (Root 64; Bumrah 4-46) & 303 (Root 109, Bumrah 5-64)India 278 (Rahul 84, Robinson 5-85) & 52-1Match drawnScorecard
England captain Joe Root stated the climate “robbed us all” after the ultimate day of the primary Take a look at towards India was deserted as a draw.
Persistent rain prevented what might have been an excellent end, with all 4 outcomes doable on Sunday morning at Trent Bridge.
At 52-1, chasing 209, India had been favourites, though England got an outdoor probability by captain Joe Root’s magnificent fourth-day century.
“I would be mendacity if I did not say India had been most likely within the driving seat going into right now,” stated Root.
“I felt like we might have been capable of create 9 possibilities of a floor like that. Issues might have shortly fallen in our favour.”
Moist climate delayed the scheduled begin of 11:00 BST and continued to comb in all through the day.
There was a dry interval that promised an inspection at 14:30, however the rain returned and the match was referred to as of at 15:50.
“We had been in an excellent place to have a crack on the goal,” stated India captain Virat Kohli.
“It will have been a pleasant, fascinating day of Take a look at cricket. It was unlucky that the climate prevailed.”
The second Take a look at of the five-match collection begins on Thursday at Lord’s.
England escape
Though England got some hope of victory by the brilliance of Root, that is realistically one thing of an escape after they had been bowled out for 183 within the first innings.
With out Root, their batting is brittle: they’ve been dismissed for lower than 200 in eight of their previous 13 accomplished Take a look at innings.
A lot of the present high six will really feel like their place within the aspect is weak, with Zak Crawley – averaging solely 11 in Exams this 12 months – trying most in danger.
“Zak is a really sturdy character,” stated Root. “He has to maintain taking a look at bringing that to his sport when he goes on the market.
“He has proven everybody he can carry out at this stage. Subsequent time he will get on the market, he wants to verify he believes in that.”
Haseeb Hameed might come into the highest three, whereas Ollie Pope seems to be set to be match for Lord’s. There may be prone to be area for less than two of Pope, Jonny Bairstow and Dan Lawrence.
“When it comes to choice, we’ll speak about that over the approaching days and have actual readability going into the second Take a look at,” stated Root.
England’s fragile batting complicates their try and cowl for the absence of Ben Stokes, the talismanic all-rounder who has taken an indefinite break from the sport to deal with his psychological wellbeing.
With out Stokes, England have been taking part in with no specialist spinner in a four-man assault.
One answer may very well be a recall for Moeen Ali, who might bowl off-breaks and bat within the high seven, however fellow spinners Jack Leach and Dom Bess had been most well-liked when the squad for the primary Take a look at was chosen.
If England follow 4 bowlers at Lord’s, any choice to incorporate left-armer Leach or the additional tempo of Mark Wooden would most likely come on the expense of Stuart Broad or Sam Curran.
India denied
India had the higher of this match, solely to be denied the chance to win a collection opener within the UK for the primary time since 1986.
“I believed we had been 70-30 forward going into day 5,” Kohli instructed BBC Sport.
“We had been fairly happy how we began. We had been very sturdy with bat, ball and within the area. We’re completely assured heading into the second Take a look at of the collection.”
After accidents dominated out openers Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul seemed assured for scores of 84 and 26, answering the largest query India had over their batting line-up.
As for his or her bowlers, they’ve a humiliation of riches, to the purpose that mesmeric off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin – with 413 Take a look at wickets – was omitted for this match.
Tempo bowler Ishant Sharma had a hand harm, however practised at Nottingham earlier than the sport at Lord’s, the place he bowled India to victory in 2014.
India had been extremely aggressive on their final tour in 2018, and a victory margin of 4-1 was a scoreline that flattered England.
Till confirmed in any other case, there’ll stay doubts that India’s batting line-up can persistently stand as much as English situations, however the vacationers will head to London as favourites to win this collection.
Which aspect had been closest to victory?
Former India wicketkeeper Deep Dasgupta on BBC Take a look at Match Particular: “This can positively go down as a really irritating day for India.
“Needing 157 and with 9 wickets in hand, they’d a reasonably good probability of successful.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan: “Lord’s will likely be an enormous alternative for England’s batting line-up. They’ve to enter the Ashes with some runs within the financial institution.
“I feel England will make two modifications: Ollie Pope in for Dan Lawrence and Haseeb Hameed for Zak Crawley.”
