Root, Ali put England on a firm wicket

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Root, Ali put England on a firm wicket
England's batsman Joe Root on his way to 124in the first Test cricket match between India and England at Rajkot on Wednesday.

Rajkot, India - Root scores century and Moeen is unbeaten on 99 as England score 311 for 4

By AFP

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Published: Wed 9 Nov 2016, 12:00 PM

Last updated: Sun 13 Nov 2016, 12:01 AM

 
England’s Joe Root hit a sparkling century and Moeen Ali was unbeaten on 99 as the tourists finished the opening day of the first Test against India in a strong position on 311-4.
Root was out for 124 after putting on 179 for the fourth wicket with left-hander Moeen after England were 102-3 at lunch.
Moeen was one run short of his fourth Test hundred at the close on Wednesday with Ben Stokes unbeaten on 19. 

England captain Alastair Cook won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first on a Rajkot pitch he regarded as a traditional Indian wicket that would assist the slower bowlers as the game progressed. 
A nervy Cook lived a charmed life against India’s new-ball pace duo of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav when the left-hander was dropped twice in the first two overs behind the wicket.
The opener seemed to have overcome his jittery start and moved to 21 by the end of the first hour’s play before he was adjudged out leg before wicket to spinner Ravindra Jadeja. 
Cook was unfortunate to be given out off an incorrect decision from the umpire, with replays showing the ball missing leg stump, and his new opening partner Haseeb Hameed offered little assistance by advising against asking for a review. 
It was the first time the Decision Review System (DRS) was being used for a bilateral series in India and England erred a second time when they eventually opted to use the technology. 
The 19-year-old Hameed, who became England’s youngest opener on his debut, wasted one of the two reviews available to his team when he failed to overturn a leg before decision off Ravichandran Ashwin after compiling a composed knock of 31. 
Ben Duckett, who opened for England in last month’s series in Bangladesh, was pushed down the order to accommodate Hameed and made a brisk start by hitting Ashwin for three boundaries in four balls. 
But India’s spearhead gained revenge in his next over when Ajinkya Rahane stooped to complete a smart low catch at slip to send Duckett back to the pavilion for 13 and bring the players in for lunch. 
The 25-year-old Root hit 11 boundaries and a six in his 180-ball knock and looked largely untroubled until Yadav struck his pad in the penultimate over before tea with the batsman on 92. 
India captain Virat Kohli made his first use of DRS but failed to overturn the on-field not out decision after replays showed the ball was clipping the leg stump. 
Root, whose ton was his 11th in Tests and third against India, was finally out to Yadav though it needed confirmation from the television umpire after the paceman seemed to have lost control of the ball while celebrating the return catch. 
Moeen provided good support and hit nine fours in his unbeaten knock in the first Test of the five-match series.   

England thrive
 
 
A. Cook lbw b Jadeja 21 
H. Hameed lbw b Ashwin 31 
J. Root c and b Yadav 124 
B. Duckett c Rahane b Ashwin 13 
M. Ali not out 99 
B. Stokes not out 19 
Extras (b1, lb2, nb1) 4 
Total (for 4 wkts, 93 overs) 311 
Fall: 1-47 (Cook), 2-76 (Hameed), 3-102 (Duckett), 4-281 (Root) 
Bowling: Shami 12.1-2-31-0, Yadav 18.5-1-68-1, Ashwin 31-3-108-2, Jadeja 21-2-59-1 (1nb), Mishra 10-1-42-0 
To bat: Jonny Bairstow, Chris Woakes, Zafar Ansari, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad 
India: Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Gautam Gambhir, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav 
Note: Mohammed Shami could not complete his 10th over due to an injury. Umesh Yadav completed the over 
Toss: England 
Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI) and Chris Gaffaney (NZL) 
TV umpire: Rod Tucker (AUS) 
Match referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI) 
 


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