Eng vs India, 4th Test Day 1: Dhawan, Rahul take visitors to strong start at stumps

Southampton: KL Rahul (11 runs) and Shikhar Dhawan (3 runs) led India to 19-0 after four overs at stumps on Day one of the fourth Test. The visitors trail hosts England by 227 runs.

Earlier, an all-round Indian team had seen off Joe Root’s men for 246 runs, with Sam Curran top-scoring with 78 runs.

While England will eye some early wickets in the second day, it is advantage India as of now as they look the favourites to challenge this English total.

England innings

England were bowled out for 246 runs in their first innings on the opening day of the fourth Test match. Sam Curran was the top-scorer for the hosts, scoring 78 runs.

Apart from him, Moeen Ali too showed some fightback with his knock of 40 runs.

However, the Indian bowlers were all over the place.

Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Ravichandran Ashwin all finished with two wickets each, whereas Jasprit Bumrah ended up with three wickets. Hardik Pandya, too, got one wicket to his name.

England 177-8 after 64.3 overs

WICKET! Adil Rashid departs for just six runs as he is struck lbw by Ishant Sharma.

England 167-7 after 59.3 overs

WICKET! Ravichandran Ashwin gets his first wicket as Jasprit Bumrah takes a stunning catch at square leg to dismiss Moeen Ali for 40 runs.

Tea break report

India continued to dominate Day one of the fourth Test match against England, but the hosts just two wickets in the post-lunch session.

England headed to tea break at 139-6.

Mohammed Shami was the lone wicket-taker in this session, removing Jos Buttler (21 runs) and Ben Stokes (23 runs).

However, since their dismissal, it was Moeen Ali (30 runs) and Sam Curran (27 runs) who got England back on track.

England 86-6 after 34.4 overs

WICKET! Shami traps Ben Stokes lbw as he departs after scoring 23 runs.

England 69-5 after 26.3 overs

WICKET!Jos Buttler is dismissed by Mohammed Shami for 21 runs as Virat Kohli takes yet another good catch.

Lunch break report

Virat Kohli-led India were on top after the first session of the fourth Test against England on the opening day here at the Ageas Bowl.

After the first session on Thursday, England are 57-4.

Nothing looked convincing from the hosts’ perspective as Keaton Jennings was dismissed for a duck, while captain Joe Root just managed four runs. Alastair Cook was their next hope, but was then dismissed by Hardik Pandya as Kohli took a spectacular catch at third slip.

Jonny Bairstow (6 runs), who was returning after suffering a finger injury in the last Test in Nottingham, was also dismissed for single runs after Jasprit Bumrah got his second wicket.

Earlier, Bumrah had trapped Jennings lbw, which in fact was India’s first wicket.

Ben Stokes (12 runs) and Jos Buttler (13 runs) are currently in the crease.

England 36-4 after 17.1 overs

WICKET! Hardik Pandya removes Alastair Cook for 17 runs, thanks to a fantastic catch by captain Kohli bat third slip.

England 28-3 after 13 overs

WICKET! Jonny Bairstow's return is short-lived as he falls to the hands of wicketkeeper Rishab Pant, with Jasprit Bumrah celebrating his second wicket.

England 15-2 after 7.1 overs

WICKET! Joe Root dismissed by Ishant Sharma in a similar fashion as the hosts lose an all-important batsman. India right on top now.

England 1-1 after 2.1 overs

WICKET! Keaton Jennings is struck lbw by Jasprit Bumrah as India get an early breakthrough.

Toss update

England won the toss and decided to bat first.

The hosts made two changes, recalling Moeen Ali to the playing XI along with Sam Curran, who is replacing Chris Woakes.

Meanwhile, India are going unchanged which means Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari will have to further wait for their senior Test debut.

Here's the playing XI for both teams:

Preview

With a slender lead of 2-1 in the five-match Test series, England will have their task cut short when they faced a revived Indian side in the fourth Test in Southampton on Thursday.

Virat Kohli and co lost their first two matches at Edgbaston and London before bouncing back in Nottingham in stunning fashion to keep the series alive. India not only has the momentum swinging in their favour but also a physical advantage compared to their English counterparts.

Jonny Bairstow, who suffered a fractured finger in the previous Test will play the role of a specialist no.4 batsman with wicketkeeping duties falling on the shoulders of Jos Buttler.

Spinner Moeen Ali and Sam Curran have also made way for Ollie Pope and the injured Chris Woakes after skipper Joe Root confirmed his probable XI on Wednesday.

On the other hand, India skipper Kohli hinted that he found no reason to tinker with his match-winning team, hinting at playing the same XI as the last match. This comes as a surprise since he has never gone with the same Test team twice since taking over the captaincy reigns.

Squads:

India: Shikhar Dhawan, Lokesh Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Dinesh Karthik, Hanuma Vihari, Umesh Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Prithvi Shaw, Karun Nair, Shardul Thakur

England: Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings, Joe Root(c), Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Stuart Broad, James Anderson

Match-timing:

The match is scheduled to start at 3.30 P.M. IST.

Live streaming:

The live streaming of the match will be available on Sony Liv app.

Live telecast:

The live telecast of the match will be available on Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony Ten and Sony Ten HD.