England battle to keep India in check on opening day of fourth Test

The Herald Scotland

6 days ago

Sai Sudharsan top-scored with 61 as India went to stumps on 264 for four although Pant retired hurt after a typically helter-skelter 37 when he was struck on the right foot by Chris Woakes.
That's that for Day 1 in Manchester 🤝 pic.twitter.com/AI7tULZqYm
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 23, 2025
Pant was in immediate pain and took off his boot to be treated but when it was apparent he could neither continue nor hobble off the field, he was taken away in a golf buggy for further assessment.
Pant suffered a finger injury last week at Lord's and could not keep wicket but this seems altogether more serious for India's second leading run-scorer of this Rothesay series, just behind Shubman Gill.
India's captain received jeers when he came out to bat and is perhaps now public enemy number one after accusing England of contravening 'the spirit of the game' following a bad-tempered third Test.
Rishabh Pant (centre right) is helped off the field (Martin Rickett/PA)
After the antagonism between the teams at the home of cricket, where England went 2-1 ahead, there was no obvious sign of lingering tensions on Wednesday, where Gill calling incorrectly under cloudy skies was India's 14th toss loss in a row – a statistical anomaly rated at 16,384 to one.
India had better luck when play started, with Woakes left kicking the turf in frustration after twice drawing Jaiswal's outside edge in the opening over as both dropped short of the cordon.
Woakes probed away in a tireless eight-over burst, frequently challenging the off-stump and outside edge but finding no reward as Jaiswal reined in his attacking instincts, only cutting loose when carving Stokes for six just before lunch.
Chris Woakes was frustrated by a couple of near misses in his first over (Martin Rickett/PA)
KL Rahul was unruffled as he faced down Jofra Archer before taking on the wayward Brydon Carse, moving past 400 runs for the series in a wicketless opening session where England's only breakthrough was Woakes snapping Jaiswal's bat handle.
Woakes had some overdue reward 20 minutes after lunch as Rahul departed for 46 following a tentative backfoot prod that took the outside edge and carried at chest height to Zak Crawley at third slip.
Dawson then struck with his seventh delivery for his first Test wicket in 2,929 days as Jaiswal, having battled to 59, was undone by a lack of spin and hint of drift as a defensive push forward caught the edge and was gobbled up by Harry Brook.
Liam Dawson (centre) struck with his seventh delivery (Martin Rickett/PA)
Gill's arrival to the crease brought surprise boos before the recalled Sudharsan, one of three India changes from Lord's, was put down on 20 by Jamie Smith after Stokes looked to have strangled him down leg-side again, having done so at Headingley.
Stokes would not be denied in his next over, persuading umpire Rod Tucker to raise his finger after brushing the front pad of Gill, who took a review with him having shouldered arms to a nip-backer.
Pant brought trademark chaos after tea; slog sweeping an 85mph delivery from Archer then missing a reverse ramp, punching Carse for six, while an ungainly hack off Dawson unsighted Stokes due to the red advertisement boards beyond the boundary.
His unpredictability was also his undoing after he inside edged a reverse sweep off Woakes on to his right boot on 37.
England appealed in vain against Rishabh Pant (Martin Rickett/PA)
England reviewed in vain as Pant hopped in agony, requiring lengthy treatment before eventually being driven off the field, head in hands and foot increasingly swelling.
Sudharsan made use of his let-off to reach a maiden first Test fifty but, having showed good judgement to England's short-ball tactics, he lost patience and flapped at Stokes and Carse ran in to take a simple catch.
With the floodlights on for most of the evening session amid ever darkening skies, England had to bowl spin from both ends after Ravindra Jadeja appeared to remonstrate with the umpires about the light.
England ended the day bowling spin from both ends at Jadeja and Shardul Thakur and refused to take the second new ball when it became available, while the players were brought off after Stokes seemed to intimate bringing on a seamer 10 minutes before the scheduled finish.