Gill century holds up battling England against India

Second Test, Edgbaston

India 310-5: Gill 114*, Jaiswal 87; Woakes 2-59

England: Yet to bat

England currently lead five-match series 1-0

Scorecard

England were held up by India captain Shubman Gill's patient century as their bowlers fought admirably on day one of the second Test at Edgbaston.

After captain Ben Stokes opted to bowl first again, his bowlers battled against Gill's calmness and another flat pitch to limit India to 310-5 at the close.

Chris Woakes bowled KL Rahul off the inside edge in a fine new-ball spell and Brydon Carse found extra bounce to have Karun Nair caught at slip for 31 shortly before lunch.

But opener Yashasvi Jaiswal complied an elegant 87 and after he was caught behind off Stokes, Rishabh Pant put on 66 with Gill as the new-ball zip faded in the Birmingham sunshine.

England hung in, however, and Pant's patience broke after tea when he hit Shoaib Bashir to long-on for 25. Nitish Kumar Reddy was bowled shouldering arms to Woakes in the next over.

That left India at risk of collapse but Gill remained unflustered and reached three figures for the second match in a row in 199 deliveries. He put on 99 with Ravindra Jadeja to see out the final 90 minutes of play.

The tourists, who made three changes including leaving out star bowler Jasprit Bumrah, will be content but memories of England's win at Headingley only adds to the feeling India have a long way to go to bat Stokes' side out of the game.

Stokes continues to defy all cricketing convention.

There were clouds overhead when he chose to bowl but the surface looked slow and favourable for batting even before the sunshine arrived after only a couple of overs.

In his mind - and India's - will be England's record chase of 378 against the same opposition here in 2022.

India were 359-3 at the end of day one last week and still lost, meaning there will be no panic in England's camp even if the Jadeja-Gill partnership ensured the day was shaded by their opponents.

Their patience in the field in the afternoon was impressive while Woakes and Carse threatened throughout.

A short-ball ploy attempted before lunch was quickly shelved and instead Stokes cleverly hunted through clever field placements.

India's changes appear an attempt to consolidate their lower order, which could yet prove crucial as they look to go beyond the 465 they made last week.

Should they do so, they will still have every chance of levelling this series but their chances are diminished by the decision to rest Bumrah, whose body is being managed after a back injury earlier this year.

Woakes was excellent with the new ball, finding a hint of movement off the seam while being relentless with his lines outside off stump.

Rahul tentatively played on and had two tight lbw decisions – first against Jaiswal on 12 and the second against Nair on five – gone England's way the day could have had a different complexion. Both were given not out on the field and shown as umpire's call when England reviewed.

England bowled more bouncers in the morning than any opening session of a Test in England but this only allowed runs to flow for Jaiswal who cut and drove.

Afterwards England corrected, dried up the runs and Jaiswal chased a wide delivery to be caught behind.

Pant was drawn in in similar fashion. A swashbuckling century-maker in both innings in Leeds, he only hit one four and one six in his 42 balls.

When the big shot came, Stokes had positioned both a mid-on and long-on while Bashir looped up the second slowest wicket-taking delivery by an England bowler this decade. The deeper of those fielders, Zak Crawley, barely had to move and England's were rewarded with a key wicket.

When Reddy, one of the three brought into India's XI alongside spin-bowling all-rounder Washington Sundar and Akash Deep, played an inexplicable leave, India were 211-5.

Gill, though, did not offer a chance all day. The closest England came was an lbw decision they attempted to overturn when Gill had 17 but there was a big inside edge.

The 25-year-old did not play like the flowing batter seen in white-ball cricket.

Despite some elegant drives and clips through mid-wicket, the 125 balls he took to reach 50 was the most of his career. This was also his slowest century.

He and Jadeja had to face five overs with the new ball at the close but safely came through. An edge by Jadeja between the slips and gully was the only alarm.