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09-Jul-2014 17:15:00 GMT
England v India, 1st Investec Test, Trent Bridge

Vijay Century Gives India Upper Hand

Nottingham: Murali Vijay's composed, unbeaten century helped India reach 259-4 on the opening day of the first Investec Test against England at Trent Bridge on Wednesday.

The opener made 122, while captain Mahendra Dhoni hit 50 not out in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand worth 81.

James Anderson, with two wickets, was the most successful bowler on a slow surface after India won the toss.

Two of England's four wickets owed much to captain Alastair Cook's unusual field placings.

But England's quartet of seamers never lost heart, responding well to a difficult morning as skipper Alastair Cook was rewarded for attacking field placings with quick wickets after lunch and tea.

Stuart Broad was the pick of the bowlers with 1-26 off 19 overs at his home ground, while there were two wickets for James Anderson and one for Liam Plunkett. Ben Stokes, recalled in place of Chris Jordan, bowled 19 economical overs.

Once again, however, the absence of frontline spinner from the hosts' attack was exposed, as Moeen Ali conceded 50 off nine overs and was dismissively crashed for a straight six by Vijay in the final hour of the day.

Shikhar Dhawan and Vijay started off on a confident note before James Anderson snapped up Dhawan for 12. The wicket was Anderson's 50th Test wicket at this venue. Cheteshwar Pujara came in and looked good with some confident strokes as he and Vijay helped India reach 106/1 at lunch.

In the very next over, Stuart Broad managed to get the big fish in Virat Kohli for 1 as he poked at a delivery outside off to second slip to give Bell his second catch. Suddenly, England were in the ascendency and they could have had a third wicket immediately only for Ajinkya Rahane's edge to fall perilously short of Bell.

Earlier, India have won the toss and opted in bat.

All-rounder Stuart Binny debut for India. Ravindra Jadeja as the only spin option. Ben Stokes replaced Chris Jordan for England.

Teams:

England:
Alastair Cook (Capt.), Sam Robson, Gary Ballance, Ian Bell, Joe Root, Moeen Ali, Matt Prior (wk), Ben Stokes, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Liam Plunkett

India: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (Capt. & wk), Stuart Binny, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami

Brief scores
India -
259/4 (Vijay 122*, Dhoni 50*)


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