England find themselves in deep trouble in their first Test against India after Joe Root finally fell for an impressive 64 to allow the tourists to take further control.
Root’s fine tally was brought to an end after an lbw to a full ball from Shardul Thakur, in what was the first delivery of a new spell. In truth, it was a tame way for him to depart after some superb stroke-making.
Ollie Robinson then fell just three balls later after he poorly spooned Thakur to mid-on. At 155 for eight, the picture was grim for the hosts at Trent Bridge, and Stuart Broad then walked, leaving them teetering.
Joe Root finally fell for 64 to leave England teetering on the brink in the first Test against India
Shardul Thakur dismissed Root with a full ball, bringing an end to his superb stint at the crease
Root marked his half-century as the skipper propped up England’s vulnerable batting
Root looked fluent with his shots where others looked stunted as he made history for himself
Dan Lawrence fell to Mohammed Shami for a duck as England lost their fifth wicket
Jonny Bairstow made 29 before the dangerous Shami trapped him LBW for his second wicket
Jonny Bairstow and Dan Lawrence had also fallen fell in quick succession, with England’s batting brittleness on full display again when they limped into tea on 138 for four.
And when Lawrence fell for a fourth-ball duck just after the interval, the burden on skipper Root only intensified.
Root needed another 22 when he arrived at the crease just before lunch to surpass Sir Alastair Cook’s all-format total of 15,737 runs and looked fluent as he reached his half-century before tea.
It was just as well because his flurry of boundaries propped up the England innings as others showed familiar vulnerabilities against a persistent Indian attack.
Bairstow was Mohammed Shami’s second victim after he claimed Dom Sibley, with Lawrence the third to fall to the bowler’s hard-to-judge movement.
Lawrence was strangled down the leg side by Shami and with the pressure mounting, Bumrah found the edge of Jos Buttler’s bat without him scoring.
Jasprit Bumrah appeals for the wicket of England opener Rory Burns in the first over of the match, with the LBW decision upheld following a review
Burns looks dejected as he walks off at Trent Bridge after falling for a fifth-ball duck
India celebrate their early breakthrough after England won the toss and elected to bat first
After Root won the toss and elected to bat, England made the worst possible start when Burns fell to a fifth-ball duck.
Crawley and Dom Sibley steadied things but Virat Kohli’s decision to review after Mohammed Siraj found some seam movement to whistle past Crawley’s bat proved inspired.
UltraEdge showed a feather on the inside of the bat before the ball carried through to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant as Crawley departed for 27 off 68 balls.
Root showed his intent with three boundaries in the final minutes before lunch as England reached 61 for two in a well-balanced session.
It had looked ominous for a far from reliable England batting line-up when Burns was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah in the first over.
The Surrey opener was thumped just above the knee roll and looked on with anguish as an LBW decision was upheld by DRS.
It was far from the ideal start after Root put England in, with Jonny Bairstow and Dan Lawrence both returning to the middle order in the injury absence of Ollie Pope.
India captain Virat Kohli (left) can’t hide his delight after his review found an inside edge nick to remove Zak Crawley for 27 just before lunch
Crawley was starting to look fairly well set until Mohammed Siraj found the edge of his bat
For a third Test in a row, England opted against a frontline spinner, with Jack Leach missing out in favour of an all-seam attack comprising James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Sam Curran and Ollie Robinson.
The latter returned to the Test arena after the historic tweet storm that cast a black cloud over his excellent debut against New Zealand at Lord’s earlier in the summer.
After Burns went and England took 15 minutes for the first run to materialise, Sibley and Crawley worked diligently to see off the new ball.
Bumrah did beat Crawley’s outside edge when the batsman was on 16, while Sibley was already digging in at the other end.
Zak Crawley plays a pull shot as England attempted to recover from their early setback
England opener Dom Sibley made a typically measured start to his innings in Nottingham
That left Crawley to play the strokes and he hit Siraj for a beautiful cover drive, played and missed at Shami and pulled Shardul Thakur for four with a flourish.
But after India wasted a review looking for the edge, Kohli almost let the DRS timer elapse before making the decision to review that saw the back of Crawley, to the captain’s visible delight.
Root marked his arrival with three quick boundaries and cautious Sibley reached lunch on an unbeaten 18 from 67 balls.
Jasprit Bumrah reacts after a near miss as India tried to put pressure on England’s bowlers
Zak Crawley (middle) and Dom Sibley (right) run a single during the morning session
England’s players, including the recalled Ollie Robinson (centre), applaud before the match
India’s fans were making themselves heard in the crowd at Trent Bridge in Nottingham