Tuesday 21 August 2018 10:02, UK
Sub-plots abounded at Trent Bridge on Sunday as India took a commanding lead in the third Test, with seamer Hardik Pandya to the fore. But was Joe Root out, and just how momentous was Rishabh Pant's performance? Here's all you need to know from day two...
SCORECARD | AS IT HAPPENED | HIGHLIGHTS
Hardik Pandya claimed his maiden five-for in just 29 balls as India seized control of the third Test against England on day two at Trent Bridge after taking all 10 wickets in the afternoon session, writes David Ruse.
Hardik (5-28 from six overs), whose scalps included Joe Root contentiously given out caught at slip, helped the tourists bowl out England for 161 in 38.2 overs as they earned a 168-run lead on first innings, having made 329 in their opening knock in Nottingham. Virat Kohli's men extended their advantage to 292 by stumps.
Hardik Pandya's fifth wicket was not his most eye-catching - Stuart Broad trapped bang in front by a regulation inswinger - but it marked mild redemption for a player whose selection was much debated pre-Test and beyond, in India and England. He proudly raised the conker in acknowledgement of the applause for his maiden Test five-for and thoroughly deserved that recognition was too, for a spell that ripped England to shreds.
Pant is the first Indian wicketkeeper - and only third overall after Brian Taber (1966) and John Maclean (1978) - to take five catches in his debut innings in Test cricket
England's last century opening stand came between Adam Lyth and Alastair Cook (177) against New Zealand at Headingley in 2015 - since then, the highest stand for the first wicket in the first innings is 56.
Thanks to our chums at CricViz for this - Pandya bowled at 137.35kph on Sunday, the fastest he's ever bowled in a Test match and found 1.8 degrees of swing, the most he's ever found in a Test innings.
Keaton Jennings averages 18 against seamers in Tests.
Was Joe Root out? The skipper thought not; catcher KL Rahul had no such doubt. Twitter was divided. David Gower and David Lloyd were among the plenty who thought the ball had carried to slip - and tellingly, the on-field umpires offered 'out' as their soft signal. From that point on, Root was doomed. "Bumble summed it up really well on commentary when he said 'if the roles had been reversed and it was England catching that, England would say that's definitely out'," chimed Nasser Hussain.
MICHAEL HOLDING: "India are in total command. The bowlers bowled well but the most important thing was that they got runs on the board, which certainly would have helped their confidence and helped the bowlers too. It's going to be very difficult for England to fight their way out of this, but at the same time, I'm sure Joe Root will be telling his team it's not impossible. This is not a bad pitch, so if you get in, you should be able to play a long innings. Chasing 400 would not be impossible. It would be difficult, but not impossible."
HARDIK PANDYA: "I'm quite happy for the five-for and if someone had said in the morning we were going to get this much lead, we would have been surprised. We're looking forward to tomorrow. As a bowling unit, we got together and decided to bowl in the right areas and not think about getting them out; we tried a few things in the morning and they didn't work out but the ball started swinging once we bowled in the right areas."
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