India had just about the better of the contest on Day One of the first Test against England at Trent Bridge, and the visitors will now look to consolidate their position of reasonable strength when they head into Day 2.
Where to Watch Live
Day 2 of the first Test is scheduled for a 11 pm BST (3.30 pm IST, 6 am ET) start with live coverage on Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD 1 and Star Sports 3 in India. The match can also be watched via live streaming online in India HERE. Get the interactive live scores and updates HERE. Catch the action in the UK on Sky Sports 2, with the option to live stream the action HERE. Viewers in the US can watch the Test match on ESPN 3 or by live streaming HERE.
After an attritional day of batting, the pitch was the talk of the town, as the surface provided little to no help for the bowlers, with the brown nature of the wicket making it look more like something out of the sub-continent rather than England on day one morning.
While the England bowlers had to expend every ounce of energy to get something out of the pitch, India were also made to work quite hard, eventually finishing on 259 for four in their 90 overs, thanks largely to an unbeaten century from Murali Vijay, who put his head down, did not let anything around him deter him, and played one of his best ever Test match knocks.
Vijay's 122 not out went a long way in saving India on the first day, after a brief wobble early in the second session threatened to derail a good start that had been given by the opener and Cheteshwar Pujara. "The only thing I worked on was to capitalize my starts," Vijay told BCCI's official website. "Until now, I was getting the starts and then got out.
"The same happened in South Africa as well when I couldn't get past the 90s. I also got some 40s during those twin tours and didn't get past them. That is something I want to change here. I want to capitalise on this opportunity."
The two phases of Vijay's innings was markedly different, with the right-hander gliding his way to runs early in the match before putting down his anchor in the second half of the day as England looked to bit back.
"The two halves of the innings were contrasting and that's what Test cricket demands from you," he added. "You have to alter your game according to the conditions and situations as much as you do against different bowlers."
England were left quite disappointed after the first day, in terms of what was on offer for them from the wicket; but they did do reasonably well to pick up four Indian wickets on this placid pitch, while keeping the runs down as well. Had it not been for a quickfire half-century from MS Dhoni, who was with Vijay at the crease at the close of play, the score would have been a lot lower.
"We are pretty happy with the way things went," James Anderson, the pick of the bowlers for England on the first day, told ECB's official website. "I think the pitch is very flat and there is not a lot of carry in it. We've had a few nicks that didn't quite carry to slip which is frustrating, but I thought we toiled away relentlessly as a bowling attack."
There will be plenty more toil come Thursday as well, with the pitch not showing any signs of improvement for the bowlers. While England will look to plug away with their bowling and setting of astute fields, like they did on the opening day, India will need to knuckle down again and ensure they do not throw away their advantage, like they did in South Africa not too long ago.
Lineups: England: Alastair Cook (capt), Sam Robson, Gary Balance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Matt Prior, Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, Liam Plunkett, James Anderson.
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (capt), Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami.
